HOWARD  R,  GARIS 


LOOKING  IN  THROUGH  THE  WINDOW  SHE  SAW  THE  FACE  OF 

A  MAN. 
"The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates"  Page  160 


THE  CURLYTOPS 

AND 

THEIR  PLAYMATES 

OR 

Jolly  Times  Through  the  Holidays 


BY 

HOWARD  R.  GARIS 

AUTHOR  or  "THE  CURLYTOPS  SERIES,"  "UNCLE  WIG- 

GILY  BEDTIME  STORIES,"  "UNCLE  WIGCTLY 

ANIMAL  STORIES,"  ETC. 


Illustrations  by 
JULIA  GREENE 


NEW  YORK 
CUPPLES  &  LEON  COMPANY 


THE  CURLYTOPS  SERIES 
By  HOWARD  R.  GARIS 

I2mo.    Goth.    Illustrated. 


THE  CURLYTOPS  AT  CHERRY  FARM 
Or,  Vacation  Days  in  the  Country 

THE  CURLYTOPS  ON  STAR  ISLAND 
Or,  Camping  Out  With  Grandpa 

THE  CURLYTOPS  SNOWED  IN 

Or,  Grand  Fun  With  Skates  and  Sleds 

THE  CURLYTOPS  AT  UNCLE  FRANK'S 
RANCH 

Or,  Little  Folks  on  Ponyback 
THE  CURLYTOPS  AT  SILVER  LAKE 

Or,  On  the  Water  With  Uncle  Ben 
THE  CURLYTOPS  AND  THEIR  PETS 

Or,  Uncle  Toby's  Strange  Collection 

THE  CURLYTOPS  AND  THEIR  PLAY- 
MATES 
Or,  Jolly  Times  Through  the  Holidays 


CUPPLES  &  LEON  COMPANY,  New  York 


COPYRIGHT,  1922,  BY 
CUPPLES  &  LEON  COMPANY 


THE  CURLYTOPS  AND  THEIR  PLAYMATES 


Printed  in  U.  S.  A. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I 

TROUBLE  IN  TROUBLE  .     . 

PAGE 

,    1 

II 

THE  POSTMAN'S  WHISTLE  . 

.     14 

III 

"  WHAT  SHALL  WE  Do?"  ., 

.    25 

IV 

UNCLE  TOBY  AGAIN  .     .    .., 

.    36 

V 

OFF  TO  THE  COUNTRY  .,    >, 

.     48 

VI 
VII 

A  FLURRY  OF  SNOW    .,    ... 
IN  THE  STORM  .... 

,     60 
70 

VIII 

A  STALLED  TRAIN  .     .     ., 

.     80 

IX 

NEW  PLAYMATES    . 

,.     91 

X 

AMONG  THE  PETS  .     .     . 

,.  104 

XI 

WHERE  DID  TROUBLE  Go?  . 

.  115 

XII 

OFF  TO  CRYSTAL  LAKE  .     -., 

.  128 

XIII 

THE  LONELY  CABIN  .     .    ,., 

,  139 

XIV 

AT  CRYSTAL  LAKE  .     .,    -.. 

M  149 

2088219 


Contents 


CHAPTER 

XV 

ON  THE  SLIPPERY  HILL    . 

PAGE 

.  161 

XVI 

A  REAL  TOBOGGAN  .     .     . 

.  174 

XVII 
XVIII 

THE  SNOW  HOUSE  .     .     . 
THANKSGIVING  .... 

.  184 
197 

XIX 

SKYROCKET  Is  GONE   .    ... 

.  206 

XX 

TROUBLE  Is  MISSING  .     . 

.  216 

XXI 

TROUBLE  AND  SKYROCKET  . 

.  229 

yXTT 

A  HAPPY  REUNION,.,    .,    ,., 

.  238 

THE  CURLYTOPS  AND  THEIR 
PLAYMATES 

CHAPTER   I 

TROUBLE  IN  TROUBLE 

"WHEN  do  you  s'pose  it'll  come,  Teddy?" 

"Oh,  pretty  soon  now,  I  guess.  We're  all 
ready  for  it  when  it  does  come,"  and  Ted 
Martin  glanced  from  where  he  sat  over  to- 
ward a  slanting  hill  made  of  several  long 
boards  nailed  to  some  tall  packing  boxes. 
The  boxes  were  piled  high  at  one  end,  and  on 
top  was  a  little  platform,  reached  by  some 
steps  made  of  smaller  boxes. 

"It's  a  good  while  coming  though,  isn't  it, 
Ted?"  asked  his  sister  Janet,  looking  up  to- 
ward the  sky. 

"Yes,  I  wish  it  would  hurry,"  said  the 
boy,  giving  his  cap  a  twist,  thereby  making 
more  of  a  tangle  than  ever  the  curly,  golden 
hair  that  had  given  him  and  Janet  the  nick- 
names of  "Curlytops." 

i 


2     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

The  two  children  walked  around  the 
wooden  structure  which  they  had  built,  with 
the  help  of  Tom  and  Lola  Taylor,  their  play- 
mates, after  much  hard  work  in  hammering, 
pounding,  and  the  straightening  of  crooked 
nails.  Now  and  then  Ted  and  Janet  turned 
their  faces  to  the  gray  clouds  which  floated 
above  them. 

"I  wish  it  would  hurry!"  murmured 
Janet. 

"So  do  I!"  exclaimed  Ted. 

There  was  a  sudden  chorus  of  shouts  and 
laughter  coming  from  around  the  corner  of 
the  house,  and  another  boy  and  girl  rushed 
up  the  path. 

4 'What  you  looking  for,  Ted?"  asked 
Tom.  "An  airship?"  for  Ted's  eyes  were 
again  turned  toward  the  clouds. 

"Or  maybe  birds,"  added  Lola,  with  a 
laugh.  "Are  you  watching  to  see  some  of 
the  birds  fly  south,  because  it's  soon  going 
to  be  winter  ?  Are  you,  Ted  ? ' ' 

"Nope!"  was  the  answer.  "I'm  looking 
to  see  when  it's  going  to  snow.  Mother  said 
a  snowstorm  was  coming,  and  I'm  watching 
for  the  first  flakes.  What's  the  good  of  a 
toboggan  slide  when  there  isn't  any  snow?" 

"That's  right,"  chimed  in  Tom  Taylor. 


Trouble  in  Trouble  8 

"Now  we  have  this  toboggan  slide  made,  we 
want  some  snow  or  else  we  can't  ride  down 
on  it." 

That  is  what  the  wooden  structure  in  the 
yard  of  the  Curlytops  was — a  toboggan  slide. 
Tom  and  Ted,  with  the  help  of  some  other 
boys  and  the  aid  of  a  few  jolly  girls,  who 
brought  up  boards  and  boxes  (though  they 
couldn't  drive  the  nails  straight)  had,  after 
much  hard  work,  built  up  a  sort  of  toboggan 
slide. 

Now  all  that  was  needed  was  snow  so  they 
could  ride  down  it  on  their  sleds,  for  none 
of  the  children  had  toboggans— those  queer, 
low,  flat  sleds,  all  of  wood,  with  the  round 
curved  piece  in  front. 

A  pile  of  big  packing  boxes  fastened  to- 
gether made  the  high  part  of  the  slide.  To 
get  to  the  top  of  this  pile  one  had  to  climb  on 
a  number  of  smaller  boxes  arranged  in  the 
form  of  steps — and  crazy,  tottering  steps 
they  were,  but  the  children  didn't  mind  it. 
It  was  all  the  more  fun  when  they  nearly  fell 
down  in  climbing  up. 

From  the  top  of  the  high  pile  of  big  boxes 
there  sloped  down  a  hill  of  boards,  nailed  in 
some  places  and  in  others  fastened  together 
with  ropes  to  make  an  incline,  or  hill.  This 


•i         The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

was  about  twenty  feet  long,  and  ended  in  a 
little  upturn  so  that  a  sled  would  shoot  up 
with  a  jerk  and  come  down  with  a  bang. 
More  fun ! 

After  several  days  of  hard  work  the  tobog- 
gan slide  had  been  finished,  and  now,  as  Ted 
remarked,  all  they  needed  was  some  snow  to 
fall,  to  cover  the  incline  and  make  it  slip- 
pery enough  for  the  sleds  to  glide  down. 

But  where  was  the  snow?  The  gray 
clouds  floating  high  in  the  air  seemed  to 
promise  a  fall  of  the  white  flakes,  but  though 
the  Curlytops  and  their  playmates,  the  Tay- 
lor children,  strained  their  eyes  and  made 
their  necks  ache  looking  up,  not  a  feathery 
crystal  did  they  see. 

"  Maybe  if  we  whistled  it  would  do  some 
good,"  said  Janet,  as  all  four  sat  in  rather 
gloomy  silence. 

"Whistle  for  what  ?"  asked  Ted,  throwing 
a  stick  for  Skyrocket,  his  dog,  to  race  after, 
a  game  that  Skyrocket  was  very  glad  to  play. 

" Whistle  for  snow,"  went  on  Janet. 
" Didn't  mother  read  us  a  story  about  some 
sailors  on  a  desert  island  whistling  for 
snow?" 

Ted  and  Tom  both  laughed,  much  to  the 


Trouble  in  Trouble 


surprise  of  Janet,  who  seemed  a  little  hurt 
at  their  chuckles. 

"Well?"  she  asked.  "What's  the  mat- 
ter?" 

"You  don't  whistle  for  snow!"  shouted 
Ted.  "You  whistle  f or  wind!  Ha!  Ha!" 

"She's  got  it  twisted!"  laughed  Tom. 

"I  don't  care!"  exclaimed  Janet,  getting 
up  and  walking  toward  the  house.  "What's 
the  difference?  Wind  brings  snow,  and  if 
you  whistle  for  wind,  and  it  comes  and 
brings  snow,  it's  just  the  same  as  whistling 
for  snow." 

"I  think  so,  too,"  agreed  Lola. 
"Smarty!"  she  exclaimed,  thrusting  her 
tongue  out  at  her  brother  and  his  chum. 

"That's  a  good  one — whistling  for  snow!" 
laughed  Ted,  clapping  his  playmate  on  the 
back.  ' '  We  '11  tell  the  fellows ! ' ' 

"If  you  do  I'll  never  speak  to  you  again !" 
cried  Janet.  ' i  And  if  you  want  to  make  any 
more  of  your  old  toboggan  slides  I  won't 
help  you.  Will  we,  Lola  ? ' ' 

"Nope,  we  won't  at  all!  Let's  go  get  our 
dolls!" 

"You'll  want  to  coast  down  this  slide 
when  the  snow  does  come!"  taunted  Ted. 


0  The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

1  '  And  then  we  won 't  let  you ;  will  we,  Tom  ? ' ' 

"Nope!  And  maybe  it's  going  to  snow 
pretty  soon,"  added  Tom,  with  another 
squint  at  the  sky.  It  was  a  very  hopeful 
sort  of  look,  but  it  did  not  seem  to  bring 
down  any  of  the  swirling,  white  flakes. 

The  girls  walked  on  toward  the  house. 
The  bo3rs  were  beginning  to  feel  rather  dis- 
appointed. They  had  worked  so  hard  to 
get  the  toboggan  slide  finished,  and  now 
there  was  no  snow  so  they  could  use  it! 
Suddenly  Tom  Taylor  gave  a  cry,  causing 
the  girls  to  turn  around  and  making  Ted 
look  up  from  where  he  was  playing  with 
Skyrocket. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Lola. 

"I've  got  an  idea!"  her  brother  answered. 

"Tell  us!  "begged  Ted. 

"I  know  how  we  can  have  some  toboggan 
rides  without  waiting  for  snow!"  exclaimed 
Tom. 

"How?  Make  believe?"  asked  Janet. 
She  was  very  fond  of  this  game  of  pre- 
tending. 

"No,  not  make  believe!"  answered  Tom. 
"Listen !  Have  you  got  any  candles  in  your 
house,  Ted?" 

"Candles?    I   guess   we   have  some.    I 


Trouble  in  Trouble 


saw  my  mother  rubbing  one  on  a  flatiron 
the  other  day  when  she  was  ironing  a  dress 
for  Jan.  I  don't  know  why  she  rubbed  the 
candle  on  the  flatiron,  but  she  did." 

"She  did  it  so  the  iron  wouldn't  stick  to 
the  starched  dress,"  explained  Janet.  "I 
should  think  anybody  would  know  that! 
Wouldn't  you,  Lola?"  she  asked  in  a  rather 
"snippy"  manner  and  with  an  upward  turn 
of  her  little  nose. 

"Of  course!"  agreed  Lola.  "Candles 
makes  irons  slippery." 

"Well,  if  you've  got  some  candles  we  can 
make  our  sled  runners  slippery  the  same 
way,  and  we  can  toboggan  even  if  there 
isn't  any  snow,"  went  on  Tom.  "I  just 
happened  to  think  I  read  a  story  once  about 
some  fellows  who  put  candle  grease  on  their 
sleds  and  rode  down  a  wooden  hill  like  this 
when  there  wasn't  any  snow.  We  can  do 
like  that!  Get  the  candles,  Ted,  and  I'll 
go  get  my  sled!" 

"Oh,  maybe  we  can  have  some  fun!"  cried 
Janet.  "Come  on,  Lola,  let's  get  our 
sleds." 

"You've  got  to  grease  your  own  runners," 
Ted  warned  the  girls.  "We  aren't  go- 
ing to  do  it  for  you." 


8         The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

"Oh,  I  guess  we  can  do  it,"  answered 
Lola.  *  *  Boys  aren  't  so  smart ! ' ' 

Tom  and  Lola  hastened  back  to  their 
house  to  get  their  sleds,  which  they  had  not 
brought  over  to  the  newly  built  toboggan 
slide,  as  there  seemed  no  use  of  doing  this 
until  snow  came.  Janet  hastened  after  her 
sled,  and  Ted  went  in  the  house  to  beg  some 
candle  ends  of  his  mother. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  with  them?" 
Mrs.  Martin  wanted  to  know.  "You 
mustn't  play  with  lighted  candles." 

Teddy  told  about  the  new  plan,  and  his 
mother  said : 

"Well,  you  must  be  careful.  I  believe 
the  candles,  rubbed  on  your  sled  runners, 
will  make  them  slippery  enough  to  coast 
down  the  wooden  hill.  But  be  careful. 
And  don't  make  any  noise,  for  I've  just 
gotten  William  to  sleep." 

"Don't  let  Trouble  come  out  when  we're 
on  the  toboggan,"  begged  Ted.  "He  might 
get  hurt."  Trouble  was  the  pet  name  for 
William  Anthony  Martin,  the  youngest 
member  of  the  Martin  family.  And  he  was 
called  "Trouble"  because  he  was  in  it  so 
often — sometimes  through  his  own  fault,  and 
often  because  of  Ted  and  Janet. 


Trouble  in  Trouble  9 

"Yes,  I'll  keep  Trouble  in,"  said  Mrs. 
Martin,  with  a  smile.  "And  here  are  your 
candle  ends,"  she  added,  giving  Ted  a  hand- 
ful. "Be  careful." 

Ted  promised  and  ran  out  into  the  yard 
to  meet  his  playmates.  Tom  had  also  found 
some  candle  ends,  and  the  boys  and  girls 
were  soon  busy  rubbing  the  paraffine  on 
their  sled  runners.  For  the  candles  mostly 
sold  nowadays  are  made  of  paraffine,  in- 
stead of  beeswax  or  tallow,  as  old-fashioned 
candles  were  made.  Paraffine  is  made  from 
crude  oil,  as  is  kerosene  and  gasolene. 

"Now  we'll  have  some  nifty  fun!"  cried 
Tom,  as,  having  rubbed  as  much  of  the 
candle  on  his  sled  runners  as  the  steel  would 
hold,  he  turned  his  coaster  over  right  side 
up. 

"We'll  have  races!"  cried  Ted. 

"But  we  have  to  take  turns  going 
down,"  said  Janet.  "The  toboggan  slide 
isn't  wide  enough  for  two  to  go  on  at  a 
time." 

"We  can  have  sorter — now — sorter  races 
to  see  who  can  go  the  farthest,"  remarked 
Ted,  stumbling  over  his  words  in  his  excite- 
ment. 

"That'll  be  fun,"  agreed  Lola.    She  and 


10       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

Janet  were  also  greasing  their  sled  runners, 
all  the  little  quarrels  forgotten  in  the  jolly 
good  times  they  were  hoping  to  have. 

"All  ready  now!"  cried  Tom,  picking  up 
his  sled.  "Who's  going  to  have  the  first 
coast  f" 

"I  think  Janet  or  Ted  ought  to  have  it, 
for  they  started  the  toboggan  and  it's  in 
their  yard,"  said  Lola. 

"That's  right!"  agreed  her  brother. 

"No,  company  ought  to  have  the  first 
ride!"  decided  Janet,  who  made  up  her 
mind  she  would  be  as  polite  as  her  playmate. 

"Jinks!"  cried  Tom,  with  a  laugh.  "No- 
body 11  ride  if  we  keep  on  talking  like  this! 
Come  on,  Ted!"  he  added.  "Let's  you  and 
me  go  down  together!" 

"Oh,  don't!"  begged  Janet.  "  'Tisn't 
wide  enough,  and  you  might  get  hurt." 

"Oh,  we'll  not!"  insisted  Tom.  "And 
it'll  be  more  fun  that  way.  I  guess  it 's  wide 
enough,  Ted.  Let's  try,  anyhow." 

They  found  that  there  was  just  about 
room  enough  on  the  toboggan  slide  for  their 
sleds  side  by  side.  They  climbed  up  the 
rickety  stairs,  made  of  small  boxes  nailed 
one  to  the  other,  and  soon  the  two  boys 
stood  on  the  little  platform  at  the  top  of 


Trouble  in  Trouble  11 

the  wooden  slope.  They  had  carried  up 
their  sleds  with  them — the  sleds  with  the 
candle-greased  runners. 

"Are  you  ready?"  asked  Ted  of  his  play- 
mate. 

"All  ready,"  answered  Tom.  "Let's 
start!" 

They  put  down  their  sleds  and  stretched 
themselves  out  on  the  coasters. 

"Wouldn't  it  be  funny  if  they  got  stuck 
half  way  down?"  giggled  Lola,  who,  with 
Janet,  was  waiting  on  the  ground  below 
off  at  one  side  to  see  what  luck  the  boys 
would  have. 

"Oh,  we  won't  get  stuck!"  laughed  Tom. 
* '  Come  on  now,  Ted !  Push ! ' ' 

Together  they  pushed  themselves  from 
the  level  platform  down  the  wooden  hill. 
The  sleds  hung  on  the  brink  for  a  moment 
and  then  went  coasting  down  as  nicely  as 
you  please,  and  quite  swiftly. 

"Hurray!"  cried  Ted,  as  he  felt  himself 
gliding  along,  coasting  almost  as  well  as  if 
there  had  been  snow  on  the  wooden  toboggan 
hill.  "This  is  nifty!" 

"Great!"  added  Tom. 

The  boys  were  so  surprised  to  find  out 
how  well  they  could  coast  without  snow 


12       The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

that  they  forgot  about  having  a  race.  As 
it  was,  they  both  came  to  the  end  of  the 
slope  at  the  same  time.  The  sleds  shot  up 
the  little  incline  and  landed  on  the  grass 
beyond  with  a  bump.  Teddy  fell  off  his, 
but  only  laughed. 

"How  is  if?"  asked  Lola. 

1 1  Dandy ! "  cried  her  brother.  '  '  You  girls 
take  a  ride  now!" 

Rather  timidly  at  first,  Janet  and  Lola 
went  down  the  incline  one  at  a  time,  but 
they  soon  grew  bolder  and  liked  it  as  much 
as  did  the  boys.  It  really  was  lots  of  fun, 
and  as  the  boards  became  more  slippery 
when  partly  covered  with  flakes  of  paraffine 
from  the  candles  the  coasting  was  swifter. 

"Now  let's  have  a  real  race!"  cried  Ted, 
after  they  had  been  sliding  for  some  time. 
"I  mean  let's  see  who  can  go  farthest  from 
the  end  of  the  slide." 

They  took  turns  at  this,  one  at  a  time 
coasting  down  the  wooden  hill  and  marking 
where  the  sleds  landed  on  the  grass.  Tom 
and  Ted  seemed  able  to  make  their  sleds 
jump  farther  than  did  the  girls. 

"I  beat !"  cried  Tom,  pointing  to  the  mark 
his  sled  had  made  on  the  grass,  after  jump- 


Trouble  in  Trouble  13 

ing  up  and  away  from  the  little  end  bump 
of  the  slide. 

"You  did  not!  My  sled  went  farther!" 
shouted  Ted.  "Here,  girls,  I'll  leave  it  to 
you!" 

The  four  were  trying  to  decide  who  had 
won  the  race  when  Janet,  glancing  back 
toward  the  toboggan  slide,  gave  a  cry  of 
alarm. 

"Look  at  Trouble!"  she  exclaimed. 

There,  on  top  of  the  pile  of  big  boxes, 
having  climbed  to  the  platform  by  means  of 
the  rickety  steps,  stood  baby  William. 

"I  s'ide  down!"  he  cried,  jumping  up 
and  down  in  delight.  "Is  'ide ! ' ' 

"No!  No!  Don't!  Stand  still,  Trouble! 
Don't  move !  I'll  come  and  get  you !"  shouted 
Ted. 

He  started  on  a  run,  but  he  was  too  late. 
A  moment  afterward  Trouble  was  in  trouble, 
for  the  little  fellow  toddled  toward  the  back 
edge  of  the  platform,  which  had  no  railing 
to  guard  it,  and  a  second  later  he  seemed 
to  topple  off  backward. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  POSTMAN'S  WHISTLE 

"On,  Trouble  has  fallen!  Trouble  has 
fallen  I"  screamed  Jan,  as  she  ran  around 
toward  the  back  of  the  toboggan. 

"Come  on,  Tom!"  yelled  Ted.  "I  guess 
my  little  brother's  hurt!" 

Lola  followed  the  others,  and  as  the  four 
children  raced  to  the  aid  of  baby  William 
a  shrill  whistle  was  heard  near  the  front  of 
the  house. 

"Is  that  a  policeman?"  cried  Tom  to  his 
chum. 

"No,  it's  the  postman,"  answered  Ted. 
"He's  taking  a  letter  into  our  house.  Hey, 
Mr.  Brennan!"  he  called,  as  he  saw  the 
gray-uniformed  mail  carrier  entering  the 
yard.  '  *  My  little  brother 's  hurt ! ' ' 

Screams  coming  from  the  mouth  of 
William  seemed  to  tell  that  he  was  badly 
frightened,  anyhow,  and  also  hurt,  very 
likely. 

14 


The  Postman's  Whistle  15 

"Trouble  hurt?  I'm  coining!"  cried  the 
postman  dropping  his  bag  of  mail  and  run- 
ning around  the  side  path. 

Another  moment  and  the  Curlytops  and 
their  playmates  had  reached  the  rear  of  the 
high  pile  of  boxes  from  which  the  toboggan 
slide  started.  They  looked  on  the  ground, 
expecting  to  see  Trouble  huddled  there  in  a 
crumpled  heap. 

But  he  wasn't  there.  His  voice,  however, 
could  be  heard  crying  lustily,  and  it  seemed 
to  come  from  overhead.  Yet  the  little  boy 
was  not  on  the  high  platform,  from  which  he 
had  been  seen  to  topple  backward. 

Where  was  Trouble  ? 

This  was  the  question  the  Curlytops  asked 
themselves.  And  it  was  what  their  play- 
mates wanted  to  know,  as  did  the  post- 
man. 

But  before  we  settle  that  question  I  want 
to  answer  several  inquiries  that  I  feel  sure 
some  of  my  new  readers  are  asking,  and 
among  these  is  this: 

"Who  are  the  Curly  tops  T' 

Those  who  have  read  the  previous  books 
of  this  series  do  not  need  to  go  over  this 
part  I  am  writing  now.  They  may  skip  it 
and  get  on  with  the  story.  Others  may  wish 


16      The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

to  know  something  about  Ted,  Janet  and 
Trouble. 

"Curlytops"  was  not  their  right  name. 
As  you  have  noticed,  it  was  Martin.  TheX>- 
dore  Baradale  Martin  was  called  Ted,  or 
Teddy,  and  Janet's  name  was  more  often 
shortened  to  Jan.  William  was  called 
Trouble  as  I  have  mentioned. 

The  name  " Curlytops"  was  given  the 
two  older  children  because  of  their  curly, 
golden  heads  of  hair.  They  lived  with 
their  father  and  mother,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Richard  Martin  in  the  city  of  Cresco,  in  one 
of  our  Eastern  stages.  Mr.  Martin  kept 
a  store. 

The  Curlytops  were  introduced  first  in 
the  book  about  Cherry  Farm.  After  that 
they  had  fun  and  adventures  on  Star  Island, 
they  were  snowed  in,  as  the  book  of  that 
name  tells,  and  later  they  went  to  Uncle 
Frank's  ranch  in  the  West.  At  Silver  Lake 
they  had  fun  on  the  water  with  Uncle  Ben. 

The  book  which  was  written  just  before 
this  is  called  "The  Curlytops  and  their 
Pets,"  and  tells  how  the  children  cared  for 
some  dogs,  a  cat,  a  monkey,  a  parrot  and 
an  alligator  that  Uncle  Toby  left  in  their 


The  Postman's  Whistle  17 

charge  when  he  thought  he  had  to  go  to 
South  America. 

Instead  of  going  there  Uncle  Toby  went 
to  Canada.  And  it  was  from  some  of 
the  stories  he  told  of  seeing  toboggan 
slides  there  that  the  Curlytops  had  made 
one  in  their  yard.  Then  came  trouble  with 
Trouble. 

1  'But  where  is  your  little  brother?"  asked 
the  postman  of  Ted  and  Janet,  as  he  rushed 
around  behind  the  high  pile  of  boxes. 
"  You  say  he  fell  off  the  platform,  but  where 
is  he?"  " 

"I  hear  him  crying!"  exclaimed  Lola. 

"So  do  I,"  added  her  brother.  The  two 
Taylor  children  were  among  the  many  play- 
mates of  the  Curlytops. 

"He  didn't  fall  to  the  ground,  that's  sure, 
or  else  he'd  be  here  now,"  declared  the 
postman.  "There  isn't  a  sign  of  him. 
Maybe—" 

But  Mr.  Brennan  never  finished  what  he 
started  to  say,  for  just  then  a  little  voice, 
above  the  heads  of  the  postman  and  the 
children,  cried  out: 

"Here  I  is!" 

"Oh,  look!"  exclaimed  Jan. 


18      The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

They  all  glanced  up  and  saw  the  head  of 
Trouble  thrust  out  of  one  of  the  big  packing 
boxes  which  Ted  and  his  friends  had  made 
into  the  highest  part  of  the  toboggan  slide. 

The  opening  of  this  large  ^packing  box  was 
toward  the  rear  of  the  slide  and  Trouble 
was  in  the  box.  How  he  got  there  could 
only  be  guessed,  but  there  he  was,  tears 
streaming  down  his  little  red  face  as  he 
looked  out. 

"I — I  wants  to  turn  down!"  he  sobbed. 

At  times  Trouble  talked  fairly  well  and 
plainly,  but  when  he  was  excited,  as  he  was 
now,  he  said  wrong  words.  Nobody  minded 
that,  however. 

"Don't  jump,  Trouble!  Don't  jump!" 
shouted  the  postman.  "I'll  get  you  down 
all  right.  Is  there  a  ladder  anywhere 
around?"  he  asked  the  children. 

"There's  a  stepladder  in  the  shed," 
answered  Ted.  "I'll  get  it." 

"I'll  help,"  offered  Tom. 

Away  sped  the  boys,  while  Jan  and  Lola 
remained  with  Mr.  Brennan  looking  up  at 
Trouble,  who  seemed  like  some  little  animal 
in  a  circus  cage. 

"How'd   you  get  in   there,   William?" 


The  Postman's  Whistle  19 

asked  Jan.  Whenever  the  name  *  *  William ' ' 
was  used  there  was  always  more  seriousness 
than  when  the  youngest  Martin  child  had 
been  called  by  his  pet  title. 

"I— I  failed  in!"  sobbed  Trouble. 

"We  saw  you  tumble  over  backward," 
remarked  Lola.  "But  how  did  you  get  in- 
side the  box?  Why  didn't  you  fall  all  the 
way  to  the  ground?" 

"Suffin  ketched  me  and  I  fell  in  here," 
was  all  Trouble  could  explain  about  it. 

"I  guess  part  of  his  clothes  caught  on 
a  nail,  or  a  piece  of  wood  that  was  sticking 
out,"  said  the  postman,  "and  he  was  swung 
inside  the  box.  A  good  thing,  too,  for  it 
saved  him  a  bad  fall.  He  didn't  go  far." 

This  was  true  enough,  for  Trouble  had 
swung  into  an  open  packing  box  not  far 
from  the  top  of  the  platform,  so  he  had 
really  only  fallen  a  few  feet — not  enough 
to  harm  such  a  fat,  chubby  little  fellow  as 
he  was. 

"Well,  we'll  soon  have  you  down,"  said 
Mr.  Brennan  cheerfully.  "Don't  cry  any 
more,  Trouble.  Here  come  Ted  and  Tom 
with  the  ladder.  I'll  soon  get  you  down!" 

As  the  boys  were  hastening  up  with  the 


20       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

ladder  toward  the  high  part  of  the  toboggan 
slide,  Mrs.  Martin  came  running  out  of 
the  back  door  of  the  house. 

" What's  the  matter?  What  has  hap- 
pened ?"  she  asked. 

"Nothing  much,  Mrs.  Martin,"  answered 
the  postman,  with  a  laugh.  "Trouble  is  in 
trouble,  and  also  in  a  packing  box;  that's 
all.  I  '11  soon  have  him  out. ' ' 

"In  a  packing  box?"  William's  mother 
repeated. 

"Yes,  you  can  see  him,"  and  Mr.  Brennan 
pointed  to  the  head  of  William  thrust  out 
from  his  "cage." 

"Oh,  the  little  tyke!"  cried  Mrs.  Martin. 
"After  he  awakened  from  his  nap  and  went 
out  to  play,  I  told  him  to  keep  away  from  the 
toboggan  slide." 

"Well,  he  went  up  on  it  when  we  weren't 
looking,"  explained  Janet. 

"And  he  feU  off,  only  he  didn't  fall  far 
and  he  swung  into  the  box,"  added  Ted. 

"What  a  narrow  escape !"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Martin.  "You  children  will  either  have  to 
take  that  slide  down  or  watch  William  more 
carefully,"  she  added,  as  the  postman  put 
the  ladder  in  place  and  began  to  climb  up 
after  Trouble. 


The  Postman's  Whistle  21 

"Oh,  we  don't  want  to  take  the  slide 
down ! ' '  cried  Ted.  ' t  We  haven 't  tried  it  in 
the  snow,  yet.  It'll  be  a  lot  more  fun  when 
it  snows." 

"We  won't  let  Trouble  get  up  on  it 
again,"  added  Janet. 

By  this  time  Mr.  Brennan  had  climbed 
down  with  the  little  fellow  in  his  arms. 
William  seemed  to  be  over  his  fright,  for 
he  smiled  and  asked: 

"Can  I  have  a  wide?" 

"You'd  better  go  in  the  house  with 
mother,"  said  Ted.  "No  rides  for  you!" 

"Oh,  give  him  one  ride!  He's  so  cute!" 
begged  Lola. 

"We'll  take  care  of  him,"  went  on  Jan. 

"Are  you  all  right,  darling?  Are  you 
hurt?"  asked  Mrs.  Martin,  looking  William 
over  carefully.  "It's  a  mercy  you  didn't 
have  some  bones  broken." 

"I  guess  he  would  have  had  if  he  had 
fallen  all  the  way,"  said  Mr.  Brennan. 
"But  his  clothes  caught  on  something  and 
saved  him.  He  just  swung  into  the  open 
box  like  a  piano  being  slung  in  a  second 
story  window  by  the  moving  men.  Well, 
as  long  as  you're  all  right,  Curlytops,  I'll 
be  traveling  on,"  he  added,  as  he  walked 


22      The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

to  where  he  had  dropped  his  bag  of  mail. 

"We're  ever  so  much  obliged  to  you," 
said  Mrs.  Martin. 

"Oh,  yes!  Thank  you!"  called  Ted  and 
Janet.  They  had  almost  forgotten  this  in 
the  excitement. 

"All  right!"  laughed  the  postman,  waving 
his  hand  to  them,  as  he  went  out  of  the 
gate. 

"Now  if  I  leave  William  with  you,  will 
you  watch  him  carefully?"  asked  Mrs. 
Martin,  as  she  turned  to  go  in  the  house. 

"Oh,  yes,  Mother!"  promised  Ted  and 
Janet  in  the  same  breath. 

"We'll  help!"  offered  Tom  Taylor. 

"Ill  let  him  ride  down  on  my  sled,"  said 
Lola. 

"I  want  to  wide  all  alone!"  declared 
Trouble. 

"No,  you  can't  do  that!"  his  mother  said. 

The  postman  turned  and  came  into  the 
yard  again. 

"I  forgot  to  give  you  this  letter,"  he  said, 
with  a  laugh.  "So  much  excitement  made 
me  nearly  forget  the  mail.  There  you  are, 
Mrs.  Martin,"  and  he  handed  her  a  letter. 

The  children  played  on  the  wooden  tobog- 
gan slide  the  remainder  of  the  morning,  hav- 


The  Postman's  Whistle  23 

ing  much  fun,  and  the  laughter  and  shouting 
of  Trouble  was  as  loud  as  that  of  the  Curly- 
tops  and  their  playmates.  Trouble  was  not 
exactly  a  curlytop,  for  his  hair  was  not  like 
the  locks  of  Ted  and  Janet. 

"I  hope  it  snows  to-morrow,"  said  Tom, 
as  he  and  his  sister  went  home  to  dinner. 

"So  do  I,"  added  Ted.  "It  looks  like 
it,"  he  added,  with  a  glance  up  at  the  gray 
clouds. 

"If  we  pack  the  slide  with  snow  we'll 
coast  lots  better,"  declared  Lola. 

Ted  and  Janet,  with  Trouble,  went  in  the 
house,  having  planned  to  do  more  "dry" 
coasting  after  their  meal. 

Daddy  Martin  had  come  home  to  lunch 
from  his  store,  and  as  the  Curlytops  entered 
the  dining  room  they  saw  their  father  and 
mother  with  serious  looks  on  their  faces. 
Mr.  Martin  had  just  been  reading  a  letter, 
the  same  letter  the  postman  had  left  after 
rescuing  Trouble. 

"Well,"  Mr.  Martin  was  saying,  "I 
think  we'll  both  have  to  take  that  trip, 
Mother,  and  see  about  this.  'Yes,  we'll  both 
have  to  go." 

"Oh,  are  you  going  somewhere?"  cried 
Ted. 


24       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

"Take  usl"  begged  Janet. 

Mrs.  Martin  shook  her  head  slowly. 
There  was  a  worried  look  on  her  face. 

"This  isn't  to  be  a  pleasure  trip,"  she  said. 
"'You  children  couldn't  possibly  go.  It's 
about  business.  Just  daddy  and  I  will  go, 
if  we  have  to.  But  I  don't  want  to  go  away 
with  winter  coming  on." 

"Why  do  you  have  to  go?"  Janet  wanted 
to  know. 

"Because,  unless  we  do,  daddy  may  lose  a 
lot  of  money,"  said  Mrs.  Martin  gravely. 
"We  wouldn't  want  that  to  happen.  If  we 
go  away  we  shall  have  to  leave  you  children 
behind,  and  I  don't  like  to  do  that,  how- 
ever— " 

Suddenly  the  bark  of  a  dog  sounded  out- 
side, and  there  came  a  ring  at  the  front  door. 

"Somebody's  coming!"  cried  Ted,  mak- 
ing a  dash  for  the  hall. 


WHAT  SHALL  WE  DO? 

"HERE,  Teddy!  Wait  a  minute!"  called 
Mr.  Martin,  but  Ted  did  not  wait.  He  was 
already  at  the  front  door.  Trouble  had 
started  after  his  brother,  but  Janet  re- 
mained with  her  mother. 

"I  wonder  who  it  can  be,  just  at  lunch 
time,"  said  Mrs.  Martin.  She  glanced  at 
the  table  to  see  if  it  were  properly  set,  and 
began  to  think  rapidly  whether  there  would 
be  enough  pie  for  dessert. 

"Will  you  and  daddy  really  have  to  go 
away,  Mother  V  asked  Janet,  as  the  murmur 
of  voices  came  from  the  front  hall,  whither 
Mr.  Martin  and  Trouble  had  followed  Ted. 

"  I  'm  afraid  so, ' '  was  the  answer.  '  i  Your 
father  had  a  letter  this  morning  telling  of 
some  trouble  about  business,  and  unless  he 
wishes  to  lose  a  lot  of  money  he  and  I  will 
have  to  go  and  see  about  some  property  he 
owns  in  a  distant  state." 

25 


26       Tlie  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

"But  I  don't  see  why  we  couldn't  go!" 
said  Janet. 

"Take  you  out  of  school,  with  the  fall 
term  just  well  started!"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Martin.  "No,  indeed  I  You  must  stay 
and  study ;  that  is,  all  but  William." 

"But  we  don't  want  to  stay  here  if  you 
and  daddy  go  away!"  cried  Janet,  almost 
on  the  verge  of  tears.  "It  won't  be  any 
fun  here  alone!" 

"No,  I  suppose  not,"  agreed  Mrs.  Martin. 
"And  yet  your  father  and  I  must  go.  We 
can't  afford  to  lose  this  money.  I  must 
make  some  plans.  I  hardly  know  what  to 
do.  I  wonder  who  came  then?" 

More  talk  and  laughter  sounded  in  the 
hall.  Teddy  came  tramping  back  into  the 
dining  room,  carrying  with  him  a  little 
jacket  belonging  to  his  brother  William. 

"Look,  Mother!"  cried  Ted.  "Skyrocket 
had  dragged  this  over  in  Bob  Newton's  yard. 
He  was  playing  with  Trouble's  jacket — I 
mean  our  dog  was — and  Bob  saw  him  and 
took  it  away.  Bob  just  brought  it  back. 
Look,  it's  got  a  hole  in  it!"  and  Ted  held 
up  the  little  garment,  torn  by  the  teeth  of 
Skyrocket. 

"Oh,  what  a  bad  dog!"  cried  Mrs.  Martin. 


What  Shall  We  Do? 27 

"He  didn't  mean  to!"  said  Ted  quickly. 
"Bob  said  he  was  just  shaking  it  and  play- 
ing with  it." 

"I — I — guess  he  was  makin'  believe  it 
was  a  cat,"  explained  Bob,  another  of  the 
playmates  of  the  Curlytops.  "I  saw  him 
come  runnin*  into  my  yard,  shakin'  some- 
thin',  and  first  I  thought  it  was  a  cat.  But 
when  I  saw  what  it  was — Trouble's  coat — 
I  took  it  away  from  Skyrocket,  and  brought 
it  over  here." 

"We're  much  obliged  to  you,  Bob,"  said 
Mrs.  Martin.  Mr.  Martin,  when  he  found 
the  visitor  was  not  for  him,  began  reading 
the  troublesome  letter  again. 

"Where's  Skyrocket?"  asked  Janet,  not 
seeing  the  dog  with  which  she  and  Ted  had 
so  much  fun. 

"Oh,  he  ran  off  when  I  took  the  jacket 
away  from  him,"  answered  Bob. 

"I  wonder  how  he  got  Trouble's  jacket," 
mused  Jan. 

"I — I  took  it  off  when  I  climbed  up  on  de 
boxes  to  slide,"  explained  William. 

"That's  right!"  exclaimed  Ted.  "I  saw 
it  on  the  ground  after  Mr.  Brennan  lifted 
him  down  with  the  stepladder.  You 
brought  him  out  his  sweater,  Mother." 


28       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

"Yes,  so  I  did.  I  thought  he  had  come 
out  with  nothing  over  his  waist.  Well,  I'll 
have  to  mend  this  jacket  now.  Trouble, 
why  didn't  you  pick  up  your  jacket  after 
you  dropped  it?" 

"Oh — jest — 'cause !"  murmured  the  little 
fellow,  and  they  all  laughed  except  Mr. 
Martin.  He  seemed  too  worried  over  the 
letter  even  to  smile. 

"Well,  I  must  get  back,"  said  Bob,  twist- 
ing his  cap  which  he  held  in  his  hands. 
"I — now — I've  got  to  get  back." 

"Have  you  had  your  dinner,  Bob?"  asked 
Mrs.  Martin. 

* '  Part — part  of  it, ' '  Bob  answered.  ' l  All 
but  the  fancy  part." 

"Oh,  you  mean  the  dessert?"  asked  the 
mother  of  the  Curlytops. 

"Yes'm,  and  there  wasn't  any  to-day." 

"Suppose  you  stay  and  have  dessert  with 
us,"  suggested  Mrs.  Martin,  well  knowing 
how  children  like  to  eat  away  from  home. 

"Yes'm,  I — I  could  do  that,"  agreed  Bob, 
his  face  brightening. 

"Couldn't  he  have  all  dinner  with  us,  and 
not  just  dessert?"  suggested  Ted. 
[Of  course,"  his  mother  replied. 


•  • 


What  Shall  We  Do?  29 


.. 


' Maybe  Bob  has  eaten  all  he  can,"  sug- 
gested Mr.  Martin,  folding  the  letter  and 
putting  it  in  his  pocket. 

"Oh,  no!  I  can  eat  a  lot  more!"  quickly 
cried  Bob.  "You  ought  to  see  me  eat !" 

"Well,  we'll  give  you  a  chance,"  said  Mr. 
Martin,  and  they  all  sat  down  to  the  table. 

The  Curlytop  children  told  Bob  about  the 
toboggan  slide,  which  he  had  not  yet  seen, 
as  he  lived  several  houses  down  the  street 
and  had  had  no  hand  in  building  up  the  big 
pile  of  empty  boxes. 

"An7  you  ought  to  see  me  in  the  box!" 
cried  Trouble,  when  he  had  a  chance  to 
speak. 

"Yes!"  exclaimed  Jan.  "Oh,  how  he 
frightened  us!" 

While  the  children  were  thus  talking  Mr. 
and  M»s.  Martin  were  conversing  in  low 
tones.  And  once  Ted  heard  his  mother  ask : 

"What  shall  we  do?" 

"Something  will  have  to  be  done,"  her 
husband  answered.  "We  must  find  some 
one  to  look  after  the  children  while  we  are 
away,  for  we  shall  certainly  have  to  go.  I 
can't  let  this  slip  away  from  me." 

"No,  indeed!"  agreed  his  wife,  with  a 


30      The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

sigh.  "And  yet,  with  the  Christmas  hol- 
idays coining  on,  it  will  be  too  bad  to  be 
away  from  the  children." 

"Perhaps  we  may  get  back  by  Christ- 
mas, "  remarked  her  husband. 

Ted  did  not  listen  to  all  this,  but  he  heard 
words  here  and  there,  and  Christmas  was 
one  of  them. 

"How  long  to  Christmas?"  he  asked. 

'  *  Quite  a  while, ' '  his  mother  replied.  '  *  It 
isn't  Thanksgiving  yet." 

"How  long  before  it  will  snow?"  Janet 
wanted  to  know. 

"That  may  happen  any  day  now,"  replied 
her  father,  with  a  glance  out  of  the  window. 
"It  was  getting  colder  as  I  came  in.  If  you 
children  go  out  to  play  again  you  must  wrap 
up  warmly." 

"We  will!"  promised  Ted.  "We're  go- 
ing to  play  toboggan  again,"  he  added. 
"You  can  stay  and  play  with  us,  Bob,"  he 
said. 

* '  Thanks !  That  '11  be  fun.  Oh,  you  have 
pie!"  he  added  quickly,  as  he  saw  Nora  com- 
ing in  with  the  dessert.  "I  like  pie!"  he 
frankly  admitted. 

"So  do  I,"  said  Ted. 


What  Shall  We  Do?  31 

"An*  I  want  two  pieces !"  declared 
Trouble. 

"Hush,  dear,"  cautioned  his  mother,  in 
a  low  voice. 

The  meal  over,  the  Curlytops  prepared 
to  go  out  in  the  yard  again,  to  have  fun  on 
their  paraffine-greased  sleds.  Bob  ran 
home  after  his,  promising  to  bring  some 
candle  ends,  as  those  Mrs.  Martin  had  found 
for  Ted  had  nearly  all  been  used. 

Such  fun  as  the  Curlytops  and  their  play- 
mates had  in  the  yard  after  dinner!  Tom 
and  Lola  came  back,  with  some  other  boys 
and  girls,  and  they  coasted  down  the  tobog- 
gan slide  one  after  the  other.  Trouble  was 
put  to  bed  for  his  afternoon  nap,  and  so 
neither  Ted  nor  Jan  had  to  watch  him, 
which  gave  them  more  time  for  fun. 

"Say,  it's  getting  real  cold!"  exclaimed 
Bob,  blowing  on  his  red  hands  after  a  coast 
down  the  wooden  hill.  "I  guess  maybe  it 
will  freeze  to-night." 

"Do  you  think  it  will,  Tom?"  asked  Ted 
of  his  best  chum. 

"Well,  it's  pretty  cold,"  was  the  answer. 
"But  I  don't  believe  it  will  freeze  ice 
enough  for  skating." 


32      The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

"If  it  only  freezes  a  little  ice  that  would 
be  enough, "  Ted  declared. 

"No,  it  wouldn't !"  asserted  Tom.  "They 
won't  let  us  skate  on  the  pond  lessen  the 
ice  is  real  thick. " 

"I  wasn't  thinking  of  the  pond,"  said 
Ted.  "I  have  an  idea!  Coine  on  over  here, 
Tom,  and  we'll  talk  about  it.  I'm  sorter — 
now — tired  of  coasting  on  a  wooden  hill. 
I'd  like  some  snow." 

"Maybe  it'll  snow  and  freeze,  too,"  said 
Tom,  as  he  and  Ted  walked  off  by  them- 
selves to  talk. 

That  evening,  after  an  afternoon  of  fun 
on  the  toboggan,  the  Curlytops  sat  in  the 
living  room  reading  on  one  side  of  the  table, 
while  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Martin  were  talking  in 
low  voices  on  the  other  side.  Trouble  had 
been  put  to  bed.  It  was  Friday  night. 
There  had  been  no  school  that  day  on  ac- 
count of  an  educational  meeting  which  all 
the  teachers  had  to  attend,  and  there  was 
no  home  work  for  Ted  and  Janet  to  worry 
about.  So  they  could  sit  up  and  read  until 
bedtime. 

But,  for  some  reason  or  other,  Ted  did 
not  seem  very  intent  on  his  book.  Every 


What  Shall  We  Do?  33 

now  and  then  he  would  look  up  from  it  and 
appear  to  be  listening. 

" What's  the  matter?"  Janet  asked  him 
after  one  of  these  periods  of  listening. 

"Oh,  nothing,"  her  brother  answered. 

Janet,  too,  was  not  as  much  interested 
in  her  story  as  she  ordinarily  was.  What 
her  mother  had  said  that  afternoon,  about 
having  to  go  away  with  daddy  leaving  the 
children  at  home,  was  worrying  the  little 
girl  more  than  she  liked  to  admit. 

Mr.  Martin  was  just  saying  something 
about  getting  ready  to  leave  in  about  a  week, 
and  Janet  was  going  to  ask  who  would  come 
to  keep  house  and  stay  with  them,  when  a 
shrill  whistle  sounded  out  in  the  street. 

" There's  Tom!"  cried  Ted,  dropping  his 
book  and  fairly  jumping  from  his  chair. 

"You  aren't  going  out  now!"  said  Mr. 
Martin.  "It's  after  eight  o'clock,  Ted." 

"I'm  just  going  out  in  the  back  yard  a 
minute,"  Ted  answered.  "I  promised  Tom 
I'd  meet  him  there." 

"All  right,  but  don't  go  away,"  his 
mother  said,  and  Ted  promised.  Snatching 
his  cap  down  off  the  nail,  he  hurried  out, 
giving  a  shrill  whistle  while  still  in  the 


34      The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

house  in  answer  to  another  call  from  his 
chum. 

"Quiet,  Ted!  You'll  awaken  William!" 
exclaimed  Mrs.  Martin.  "And  don't  slam 
the  door !" 

But  this  warning  came  too  late.  The 
door  was  slammed,  but  Trouble  seemed  to 
sleep  on.  He  was  tired  from  his  day  of 
play.  Janet  could  hear  Tom  and  Ted  talk- 
ing on  the  side  porch. 

"I  guess  maybe  they're  going  to  tobog- 
gan a  little  by  moonlight,"  thought  the  girl. 
Then  her  mind  went  back  to  the  letter  of  that 
afternoon,  and  she  remembered  what  her 
father  had  said  about  having  to  go  away  or 
else  lose  a  lot  of  money.  Janet  did  not 
understand  much  about  business — very  lit- 
tle, in  fact — but  she  knew  what  it  meant  to 
lose  money.  Once  she  had  dropped  five 
cents  down  a  hole,  and  she  never  got  it  back. 
She  always  remembered  this. 

"Who's  going  to  stay  with  us,  Mother $" 
Janet  asked,  after  a  pause. 

"Stay  with  you  when,  dear?" 

"When  you  and  daddy  go  away." 

"Well,  we  haven't  decided  that,"  her 
father  answered.  "In  fact,  it's  that  which 
bothers  us.  We  don't  know  just  what  to  do. 


What  Shall  We  Do?  35 

If  it  wasn  't  that  winter  is  coining  we  might 
take  you  along.  But,  as  it  is,  we  can't." 

"We  want  somebody  nice  to  stay  with  us," 
insisted  Janet. 

"  Yes,  of  course,  dear,"  agreed  her  mother. 
"We'll  have  to  write  to  some  of  our  relatives 
and  see  who  can  come.  I  don't  know  just 
who  would  be  the  best,  or  who  could  spare 
the  time.  And  while  I  know  you  two 
Curlytops  will  be  all  right,  I  shall  be  wor- 
ried over  William. 

"Oh,  I'll  look  after  Trouble!"  promised 
Jan. 

"Yes,  I  know  you'll  do  your  best,  dear. 
And  now — " 

But  Mrs.  Martin  never  finished  that  sen- 
tence. Suddenly,  from  the  yard,  came 
loud  shouts,  a  banging,  rattling  noise, 
and  Ted's  voice  could  be  heard  yelling: 

"Look  out!  Look  out!" 


CHAPTER  IV 

UNCLE  TOBY  AGAIN 

DADDY  and  Mother  Martin  fairly  jumped 
from  their  chairs  and  hastened  to  the  back 
door.  Nora  Jones,  the  jolly,  good-natured 
cook,  was  before  them.  She  had  just  fin- 
ished the  kitchen  work,  and  was  on  her 
way  to  her  room  when  she  heard  the  shouts 
of  Ted  and  Tom. 

* '  Oh,  Mrs.  Martin !  Something  must  have 
happened!"  cried  Nora. 

"It  sounds  so,"  agreed  Mrs.  Martin. 

"Oh,  I  hope  they're  not  hurt!"  murmured 
Jan. 

Just  then  the  shouts  of  the  boys  were 
mingled  with  laughter. 

"It  doesn't  sound  very  serious,"  said 
Mr.  Martin. 

The  back  door  was  opened  and  the  light 
from  the  kitchen  shone  on  the  toboggan 
slide.  The  light  also  showed  Tom  and 
Ted  in  a  mixed-up  mass  at  the  bottom  of 
the  slide,  each  one  holding  a  tin  pail. 

36 


"WE    BOTH    WENT    DOWN    THE    SLIDE    TOGETHER    WITH    THE 

PAILS." 
"The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates"  ^age  38 


Uncle  Toby  Again  87 

And  as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Martin  and  Janet 
and  Nora  hastened  out  they  saw  that  both 
boys  were  dripping  wet,  and  as  they  un- 
tangled their  legs  from  each  other  and  stood 
up,  it  could  be  seen  that  they  were  now 
shivering,  for  the  night  was  cold. 

"What  in  the  world  has  happened?" 
asked  Mother  Martin. 

"And  what  in  the  world  have  you  been 
doing?"  asked  Daddy  Martin,  rather 
sternly. 

It  was  very  plain  to  be  seen  that  Ted  and 
Tom  had  been  doing  something. 

"We — we — now — we  were — "  began  Ted. 

"Don't  stand  here  to  tell  us!  Get  in 
the  house  and  into  dry  clothes!"  cried  Ted's 
mother.  "You'll  catch  your  deaths  of  colds 
out  here!  Get  in  the  house  now  and  ex- 
plain later!  Are  either  of  you  hurt?"  she 
asked,  for  she  noticed  that  each  boy  was 
limping. 

"Not  much,"  answered  Tom,  trying  to 
smile.  "We  just  tumbled  down  the  tobog- 
gan slide,  that's  all,  and  the  water — " 

"Never  mind  now;  tell  us  later,"  said 
Mr.  Martin. 

And  when  Tom  and  Ted  had  taken  off 
their  wet  clothes,  Tom  being  given  an  extra 


38      The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

suit  of  Ted's,  the  two  boys,  sitting  by  the 
fire,  told  what  had  happened. 

"We  wanted  some  real  ice  on  the  toboggan 
slide/'  explained  Ted.  " Rubbing  candles 
on  your  sled  runners  is  all  right,  but  we 
wanted  some  real  ice.  It  didn't  snow,  so 
I  said,  *  let's  pour  water  on  our  slide  and 
let  it  freeze  to-night,  'cause  it's  cold.' 

"And  did  you?"  asked  his  father,  trying 
not  to  smile. 

"'Yes,  Daddy,  we  did.  But  I  guess  it 
isn't  frozen  yet,"  answered  Ted.  "We 
were  spilling  pails  of  water  down  on  the 
slide.  We  stood  on  the  top  platform  where 
Trouble  fell  off  of,  and  then,  all  of  a  sudden, 
I  slipped,  and — " 

"Yes,  and  he  grabbed  hold  of  me,  and 
then  I  slipped !"  broke  in  Tom,  with  a  laugh. 
"And  we  both  went  down  the  slide  together 
with  the  pails.  It  was  almost  as  slippery 
as  if  there  was  ice  on  it,"  he  added. 

"Yes,  it  was  slippery  all  right,"  chuckled 
Ted.  "And  if  it  freezes  to-night  we'll  have 
packs  of  fun  to-morrow." 

The  thought  of  the  fun  they  might  have 
seemed  to  make  the  boys  forget  their  present 
troubles. 

"Well,  I'm  glad  it  isn't  any  worse,"  said 


Uncle  Toby  Again  39 

Mrs.  Martin.  "You  boys  should  be  careful 
on  that  slide.  Just  think!  You  might 
have  been  hurt!" 

"Oh,  you  can't  get  hurt  on  that  slide," 
declared  Ted.  "It's  nice  and  smooth. 
And,  anyhow,  I  didn't  mean  to  slip;  I 
couldn't  help  it."  He  laughed  as  he  re- 
membered it,  and  Jan  laughed  too.  She 
wished  she  had  been  there  to  see  Tom  and 
Ted  toppling  down  the  slide  together  with 
the  empty  pails  banging.  It  was  this  that 
had  made  the  noise. 

"It  was  like  Jack  and  Jill,  falling  down 
the  hill,"  laughed  Janet. 

"That's  right,"  agreed  Tom.  "But  I 
guess  I'd  better  be  going  home,"  he  added. 
"Do  you  s'pose  my  things  are  dry  yet?" 
he  asked  Mrs.  Martin. 

"Oh,  mercy,  no!"  exclaimed  the  mother 
of  the  Curlytops.  "They  won't  be  dry 
until  to-morrow.  I'll  have  Nora  hang  them 
in  the  kitchen  by  the  range." 

"But  I  guess  maybe — I'd  like  to,  but — er 
— now — I  don 't  guess  my  mother  would  like 
me  to  stay  here  all  night,"  said  Tom  hesitat- 
ingly. 

"You  don't  have  to  stay  here  all  night," 
Mrs.  Martin  said. 


40      The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

"Well,  but  if  my  things  aren't  dry — " 

"Oh,  wear  those  of  Ted's  that  you  have 
on,"  laughed  Mrs.  Martin.  "I  didn't  know 
what  you  meant.  That's  all  right — wear 
those  things  of  Ted's.  He  has  plenty  more. 
Yours  will  be  dry  in  the  morning." 

"And  I  hope  there'll  be  ice  on  the  tobog- 
gan slide  in  the  morning!"  exclaimed  Ted. 
"I  wish  you  could  stay  all  night,  Tom. 
Couldn't  he,  Mother?"  he  asked  wistfully. 
"We'd  be  awful  good  and  he  could  sleep 
with  me  and  we  wouldn't  pillow  fight  or 
anything.  And  Tom's  better 'n  I  am  about 
spilling  things  on  the  tablecloth  at  break- 
fast." 

"Oh,  it  wasn't  that  I  was  thinking  of," 
said  Mrs.  Martin.  "I  was  thinking  his 
mother  and  father  would  want  him  home. 
It's  getting  late." 

"But  we  don't  have  to  get  up  early  to- 
morrow. It's  Saturday  and  there's  no 
school!"  pleaded  Ted,  eagerly. 

"My  mother  wouldn't  care  if  I  didn't 
come  home,  as  long  as  I  was  over  here," 
said  Tom,  trying  not  to  appear  too  eager,  for 
that  would  have  been  almost  like  asking  to 
remain. 

"Well,  I  suppose  it  would  be  best  for  you 


Uncle  Toby  Again  41 

not  to  go  out  in  the  cold  again,  after  hav- 
iing  been  wet,"  said  Mrs.  Martin.  "We 
could  telephone  to  your  mother,  Tom." 

"All  right!"  he  cried  joyfully. 

"Hurray!"  shouted  Ted. 

"Be  careful!  Don't  awaken  Trouble!" 
cautioned  Mrs.  Martin. 

Thereupon  the  boys  quieted  down,  but 
they  were  still  bubbling  over  with  mirth, 
talking  about  the  fun  they  would  have  sleep- 
ing together  and  the  other  fun  they  would 
have  on  the  toboggan  slide  the  next  day. 

Mr.  Martin  telephoned  to  the  Taylor  home, 
explaining  about  the  little  accident  that  had 
happened  to  Tom,  and  suggesting  that,  if 
it  was  all  right,  he  should  remain  with  the 
Curlytops  that  night.  Mr.  Taylor  said 
it  would  be  all  right,  and  thanked  Mr.  Martin 
for  his  kindness. 

Janet  remained  up  a  little  longer,  listen- 
ing to  Tom  and  Ted  telling  over  again  just 
how  they  had  carried  pails  of  water  to  the 
top  of  the  wooden  slope,  spilling  down  the 
sloping  boards  the  liquid  which  swished  its 
way  like  rapids  in  a  river.  And  then  came 
the  tumble  and  fall  of  the  boys. 

"Boys,  as  long  as  you  are  going  to  have 
good  times  to-morrow  I  suggest  that  you 


42      The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

go  to  bed  now,"  said  Mrs.  Martin,  when  it 
was  past  nine  o'clock. 

"I  want  to  get  a  glass  of  water  first," 
said  Ted,  going  toward  the  kitchen. 

"You  can  get  a  drink  up  in  the  bath- 
room," his  mother  told  him. 

"I  don't  want  this  to  drink,"  Ted  ex- 
plained. "I  want  to  fill  a  glass  full  of  water 
and  set  it  out  on  the  steps." 

"What  for?"  Janet  wanted  to  know. 
"No  birds  will  come  to  drink  at  night,"  she 
added,  for  she  and  her  brother  had  made 
a  bird-feeding  station  in  their  yard,  and 
also  a  little  shallow  basin  where  the  feath- 
ered songsters  could  bathe  and  drink. 

"This  isn't  for  birds,"  Ted  explained. 
"I  just  want  to  set  a  glass  of  water  out- 
side and  wait  to  see  if  it  freezes.  If  it 
does,  then  we'll  know  if  there's  going  to 
be  ice  on  our  toboggan  slide  in  the  morn- 
ing." 

"Nonsense!"  laughed  his  mother.  "I 
can't  let  you  stay  up  until  you  find  out  if 
a  glass  of  water  will  freeze.  It  would  take 
too  long." 

"Not  to  see  if  just  the  top  froze  over," 
insisted  Ted.  i  i  I  don 't  mean  until  the  whole 


Uncle  Toby  Again  43 

glass  freezes  solid.  I  know  that  would  take 
a  long  time. " 

"No,  no !"  laughed  his  mother,  giving  him 
a  friendly  little  push  from  the  room.  "Go 
to  bed!  I  think  it  will  be  cold  enough  to 
make  at  least  a  skim  of  ice  on  your  tobog- 
gan slide.  But  not  much  more.  So  don't 
be  disappointed  if  you  have  to  use  candles 
on  your  sled  runners  to-morrow." 

However,  Ted,  and  Janet,  and  Tom  went 
to  bed  filled  with  joyous  hopes  for  the  next 
day.  The  boys  were  almost  as  good  as  they 
promised  to  be,  not  having  any  pillow  fight. 
But  they  did  "cut  up"  a  little,  and  had 
to  be  told,  more  than  once,  to  get  quiet  and 
go  to  sleep.  And  finally  they  did. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  morning 
brought  Saturday,  with  no  school,  when 
the  children  might  have  slept  later  had  they 
wished,  Tom  and  Ted  were  up  earlier  than 
usual.  Hardly  stopping  to  dress  properly, 
the  two  boys  ran  out  into  the  yard  and  to  the 
toboggan  slide. 

"Hurray!"  cried  Tom.    "She  froze!" 

"Oh,  what  a  nifty  lot  of  ice!"  exclaimed 
Ted. 

And  the  sloping  boards  of  the  toboggan 


44      The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

slide  were  covered  with  a  film  that  glistened 
and  sparkled  in  the  sun.  The  morning  air 
was  cold,  too,  and  the  boys  felt  sure  the 
ice  that  had  formed  from  the  water  they 
poured  on  would  not  soon  melt. 

"Come  on,  Janet !"  cried  Tom,  after 
breakfast.  "Now  you  can  have  a  real  to- 
boggan ride!" 

"Me,  too!"  called  Trouble,  banging  his 
oatmeal  spoon  on  his  plate. 

"After  a  while,  dear.  You  aren't  dressed 
yet,"  his  mother  told  the  little  fellow. 

Indeed  the  toboggan  was  a  real  hill  of 
ice  now,  though  the  frozen  covering  was 
thin.  And  the  children  had  many  fine 
coasts  on  it,  for  the  sleds  went  faster  than 
when  greased  with  candles. 

Lola  Taylor  came  over,  and  so  did  other 
playmates  of  the  Curlytops,  and  you  can 
be  sure  that  after  this  the  thin  coating  of  ice 
on  the  boards  did  not  last  long.  It  began  to 
wear  off  and  wear  thin,  first  in  one  place 
and  then  in  another,  the  rising  sun  helping 
to  melt  it.  And  before  noon  there  was  no 
ice  left. 

However,  the  boys  and  girls  had  had  lots 
of  jolly  good  fun,  and  Trouble  also  had  his 
share.  As  the  boards,  once  they  were  wet 


Uncle  Toby  Again  45 

from  the  melting  ice,  were  too  sticky  for  the 
candle-greased  sleds  to  coast  on,  the  fun  had 
to  be  given  up  just  before  noon. 

But  after  dinner  Tom  and  Ted  found 
something  else  that  gave  them  an  adventure. 
A  little  brook  ran  through  a  meadow,  not 
far  from  the  home  of  the  Curlytops,  and  on 
a  part  of  this  that  was  in  the  shadow  from 
a  hill  there  was  some  ice  that  was  quite 
thick,  and  it  remained  unmelted,  as  the  sun 
did  not  shine  on  it. 

"Oh,  look!"  cried  Ted,  as  the  two  chums, 
wandering  through  the  meadow  in  search  of 
fun,  saw  the  ice.  "Look!  We  can  have  a 
slide!" 

"Will  it  hold?"  asked  Tom. 

"Sure!  Look  at  Skyrocket!"  answered 
Ted. 

The  dog  had  walked  out  on  the  thin  ice 
which  held  him  up.  But  the  boys  did  not 
stop  to  think  that  Skyrocket  was  not  as 
heavy  as  either  of  them.  Also  Skyrocket 
was  on  four  feet,  and  his  weight  was  more 
scattered,  being  distributed  over  a  larger 
surface  than  theirs  would  be.  But  Tom  and 
Ted  never  thought  of  this.  Ice  that  would 
hold  Skyrocket  would  hold  them,  they 
thought. 


46      The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

In  another  instant  they  had  walked  out 
on  it  and  were  just  going  to  run  and  take 
a  little  slide  when  there  was  a  cracking 
sound,  and,  before  they  knew  it,  both  lads 
had  plunged  into  the  brook  at  one  of  the 
deep  parts. 

"Oh!  Oh!"  cried  Tom  and  Ted  together, 
for  they  were  quite  frightened. 

Skyrocket  barked  and  capered  about. 
He  did  not  know  whether  this  was  a  game 
the  boys  were  playing,  or  whether  their 
cries  meant  danger.  To  tell  the  truth  there 
was  not  really  much  danger,  as  the  brook  was 
not  up  to  the  knees  of  the  boys  at  this  point. 

They  remained  upright,  floundering  about 
and  struggling  in  the  cold  water  amid 
chunks  of  thin  ice.  For  the  ice  was  really 
too  thin  to  hold  them. 

"Oh,  what  are  we  going  to  do?"  cried 
Tom. 

"I'm  nearer  shore  than  you  are!"  panted 
Ted.  "Grab  hold  of  my  hand  and  I'll  help 
you  out!" 

But  as  the  boys  were  struggling  to- 
gether they  heard  a  voice  shouting  at  them 
from  the  far  side  of  the  meadow.  They 
looked  and  saw  a  man  running  toward  them. 
He  reached  them  before  they  had  gotten  to 


Uncle  Toby  Again  47 

the  bank  where  Skyrocket  was  wildly  bark- 
ing, and,  reaching  his  hands  out  to  them, 
the  man  pulled  Tom  and  Ted  to  safety. 

"What  in  the  world  are  you  lads  up  to?" 
the  man  asked. 

Something  in  the  voice  caused  Ted  to 
look  up,  and  he  cried. 

"Uncle  Toby!" 

"Yes,  Uncle  Toby!"  admitted  the  man, 
with  a  laugh.  "It's  a  good  thing  I  hap- 
pened to  take  the  short  cut  across  lots  from 
the  railroad.  Now  tell  me  why  you  chaps 
went  in  swimming  on  a  day  like  this? "  and 
he  looked  first  at  Ted  and  then  at  Tom. 


OFF  TO  THE  COUNTRY 

SKYROCKET  ran  up  to  Uncle  Toby,  bark- 
ing and  sniffing  around  the  legs  of  the  jolly 
man  who  had  pulled  the  two  boys  from  the 
ice-cold  brook. 

"So  you  remember  me,  don't  you?" 
chuckled  Uncle  Toby,  as  he  watched  the 
wagging  tail  of  the  dog. 

"I  do,  too!7'  said  Tom.  "Have  you  got 
all  your  pets  still?" 

"Most  of  'em!"  answered  Uncle  Toby. 
"But  we  mustn't  stand  here  talking,  with 
you  boys  wet  through.  Come  on  to  the 
house.  Run!  That's  the  best  way  to  keep 
from  taking  a  cold !  Run  !y' 

"We — we  got — all  wet — last  night,  too," 
Ted  informed  Uncle  Toby,  the  words  being 
jerked  out  of  him  because  of  the  jolting 
effect  of  the  run. 

"Were  you  in  swimming  last  night f" 
Uncle  Toby  wanted  to  know. 

48 


Of  to  the  Cvwntry  49 

"We  were  making  a  toboggan  slide  like 
those  you  told  about  seeing  in  Canada, " 
explained  Ted. 

"And  we  weren't  in  swimming  now.  We 
were  sliding  and  the  ice  broke, "  explained 
Tom. 

"Well,  never  mind  about  that  now,"  said 
Uncle  Toby.  "Come  on — run!"  And  he 
ran  so  fast,  half  holding  up  the  boys  who 
trotted  along  on  either  side  of  him,  with 
Skyrocket  leaping  along  behind,  that  by  the 
time  the  house  was  reached  Ted  and  Tom 
each  felt  quite  warm  in  spite  of  their  icy 
bath. 

"Oh,  my  goodness!  What '11  your  ma 
say?"  cried  Nora,  as  Uncle  Toby  rushed 
the  boys  into  the  cozy  kitchen. 

"Get  upstairs  and  bring  them  down  some 
dry  clothes.  Let  them  undress  and  dress 
here  by  the  fire.  The  water  won't  hurt  the 
kitchen  floor,"  said  Uncle  Toby. 

In  a  little  while  Tom  was  again  attired 
in  his  own  suit,  which  was  now  dry,  and  Ted 
had  on  an  extra  one  of  his  own,  while  the 
wet  garments  were  taken  down  cellar  to  be 
hung  near  the  furnace. 

"I  guess  you  boys  had  better  stay  in  the 
house  the  rest  of  the  day,"  said  Mrs.  Martin, 


50       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

when  she  had  greeted  Uncle  Toby  and  had 
heard  what  had  happened. 

i  '  I  have  to  go  home, ' '  said  Tom.  ' i  Thank 
you  for  drying  my  clothes,  and  I'm  sorry 
I  got  Ted's  wet,"  he  added. 

"Well,  be  careful,"  cautioned  Mrs.  Mar- 
tin, as  Ted's  playmate  left,  promising  to  run 
all  the  way  so  he  would  not  get  a  chill.  But 
the  day  was  quite  warm  now,  all  the  ice 
having  been  melted  from  the  toboggan  slide, 
and  even  the  water  on  it  drying  up. 

"Well,  what  kindly  fortune  brings  you 
here,  Uncle  Toby?"  asked  Mrs.  Martin,  as 
soon  as  she  could  sit  down  for  a  chat. 

"Oh,  I  came  to  ask  a  favor,"  went  on 
the  old  gentleman,  who  had  traveled  in  many 
parts  of  the  world  and  who  had  collected 
quite  a  few  strange  pets,  some  of  which  he 
still  kept  at  his  home  in  Pocono.  "But 
you  look  worried,  Euth, ' '  he  went  on.  * l  Has 
anything  happened?  Don't  worry  about 
those  boys.  They  won't  take  cold  from  a 
little  dipping,  even  if  the  weather  is  get- 
ting a  bit  frosty." 

I  wasn't  worrying  about  them,"  said 
Mother  Martin,  with  a  smile.  "But  we 
have  had  some  other  troubles.  Dick  has 
had  word  that  he  is  likely  to  lose  a  lot  of 


Off  to  the  Country  51 

money,  and  he  and  I  will  have  to  take  a  trip 
to  see  about  some  property.  We'll  have  to 
go  right  away,  or  within  a  day  or  so,  and 
what  to  do  about  the  children  I  don't  know. 
We  can't  very  well  take  them  with  us.  I 
was  just  thinking  we  might  get  some  of 
our  relations  to  come  and  stay  here  while 
we're  gone.  Then  you  drop  in.  Have 
you  come  to  tell  me  that  you  are  coming  to 
pay  a  visit ?  I'd  leave  my  Curlytops  and 
William  with  you  and  know  they  were 
safe." 

"And  I'd  ask  nothing  better  than  to  look 
after  them,"  said  Uncle  Toby, 'with  a  smile. 
"But  I  didn't  come  to  tell  you  I  was  coming 
here.  Instead  I  came  to  invite  you  to  my 
place  in  the  country.  I  have  a  large  cot- 
tage, or  camp,  as  you  know,  at  Crystal  Lake, 
just  outside  Pocono.  I'm  going  to  have  a 
sort  of  holiday  party  out  there  this  winter, 
and  I  want  you  and  the  Curlytops  to  come 
and  spend  some  time  with  me.  In  fact  I'll 
take  some  of  their  playmates,  if  their  folks 
will  spare  them.  That's  what  I  came  for — 
to  invite  you  all  out  to  my  place  to  have 
jolly  times  through  the  holidays." 

"Oh,  how  lovely!"  cried  Janet,  who  heard 
what  was  being  said. 


52      The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

"Could  we  have  a  toboggan  slide  there?" 
Ted  wanted  to  know. 

"Me  turn?"  lisped  Trouble. 

"Sure  you'll  come!"  cried  Uncle  Toby, 
catching  baby  William  up  in  his  arms  and 
hugging  and  kissing  him.  *  *  There  wouldn  't 
be  any  fun  if  we  left  you  behind.  When 
can  you  get  ready  to  come?"  he  asked  Mrs. 
Martin. 

"Why,"  answered  the  mother  of  the 
Curlytops  slowly,  "I  don't  see  that  Dick 
and  I  can  come  at  all.  We  must  take  this 
business  trip  or  daddy  will  lose  a  lot  of 
money,"  she  explained  to  the  children. 
"But  your  coming  at  this  time  is  most  for- 
tunate, Uncle  Toby.  As  long  as  you  are 
going  to  have  a  party  out  at  your  country 
cabin  on  Crystal  Lake,  it  will  be  just  the 
thing  for  the  children.  They  can  go  and 
stay  with  you  while  Dick  and  I  are  away." 

"Of  course!"  cried  Uncle  Toby.  "Aunt 
Sallie — you  remember  her  I  guess  ?"  he  went 
on — "she'll  be  there  to  cook  for  us  and  see 
that  the  children  don't  get  their  feet  wet." 

"Aunt  Sallie,"  remarked  Mrs.  Martin. 
"I  don't  seem  to  remember — " 

"She's  Mrs.  Watson,  the  old  lady  who 
went  away  from  my  house  the  time  I  started 


Off  to  the  Country  53 

for  South  America,  and  left  you  my  pets  to 
look  after,"  Uncle  Toby  explained.  "She's 
a  distant  relative  of  mine,  and  I  call  her 
Aunt  Sallie,  though  she  isn't  really  my  aunt. 
But  she's  come  back  to  keep  house  for  me, 
and  she'll  go  out  to  the  fcamp  with  us.  It 
will  be  just  the  place  for  the  older  children, 
and  they  can  go  to  school  there.  We've  got 
a  good  little  country  school  not  far  from  the 
lake.  In  fact  they  can  skate  to  school  when 
the  lake  gets  frozen  over,  and  that  will  be 
soon  if  this  weather  keeps  up." 

"Oh,  what  fun!"  cried  Ted. 

"It  will  be  just  the  thing  for  us,"  said 
Mrs.  Martin.  "It  will  take  away  all  our 
worries  over  what  we  were  going  to  do  about 
the  children  while  we  were  away." 

"And  did  you  say  we  could  have  some 
playmates  out  there?"  asked  Janet. 

"Yes,  bring  along  some  boy  or  girl  chum 
— one  for  each  of  you,"  replied  Uncle  Toby. 

"I'd  like  to  have  Tom!"  exclaimed  Ted. 

"And  I'll  ask  Lola,"  said  Jan. 

"All  right,"  agreed  Mr.  Bardeen.  "And 
they  may  find  some  other  playmates  when 
they  get  out  there,"  he  added  in  a  low  voice. 

"Do  you  mean  new  pets$"  asked  Ted, 
overhearing  what  Uncle  Toby  remarked. 


54       The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

"That's  a  secret,"  was  the  smiling  an- 
swer, and  he  made  a  sign  to  Mrs.  Martin 
that  he  would  explain  to  her  later.  As  for 
Ted  and  Jan  they  were  so  excited  over  the 
prospect  of  going  to  spend  the  holidays  in 
the  country  cabin  of  Uncle  Toby  that  they 
danced  up  and  down  and  around  the  room, 
swinging  Trouble  with  them. 

"I'm  going  over  to  tell  Tom!"  cried  Ted. 

"And  I'll  tell  Lola,"  added  his  sister. 

"Wait  a  while,  Curlytops,"  advised 
Mrs.  Martin.  ' ' Let 's  see  what  daddy  says. ' ' 

The  children  felt  that  they  never  could 
wait  until  their  father  came  home  from  the 
store  that  evening.  But  he  did  arrive  at 
last.  Ted  and  Janet  were  sure  he  was  late, 
but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  was  a  little  ahead 
of  his  usual  time,  Mother  Martin  having 
telephoned  to  him  about  the  visit  of  Uncle 
Toby.  The  latter  had  come  along  suddenly, 
not  even  writing  to  say  that  he  was  on  his 
way. 

"I  just  got  the  notion  into  my  head  that  I 
wanted  the  Curlytopa  and  some  of  their 
playmates  out  at  my  place  on  a  holiday 
visit,"  he  explained,  "and  so  I  packed  up 
and  come  on.  Didn't  pack  up  much 
either,"  he  said.  "Just  a  bag.  And  I  left 


Off  to  the  Country  55 

that  at  the  station  and  took  the  short  cut 
across  lots.  Good  thing  I  did,"  he  con- 
cluded, winking  at  Teddy. 

"You  must  never  again  go  sliding  on  the 
ice  until  you  are  sure  it  will  hold  you,"  said 
Mr.  Martin  to  his  son.  "Just  because  it 
held  up  Skyrocket  doesn't  prove  that  it  will 
hold  you.  If  you  don't  promise  to  be  care- 
ful I  can't  let  you  go  to  Crystal  Lake!" 

"Oh,  we'll  be  careful !"  promised  Ted  and 
Janet  in  one  breath. 

"I  guess  this  means  that  you've  made  up 
your  mind  to  let  them  come  with  me,  is  that 
so?"  asked  Uncle  Toby. 

"I  think  it  will  be  the  best  thing  that 
could  happen,"  answered  Daddy  Martin. 
"Kuth  and  I  must  go  to  see  about  that 
property.  It  will  take  both  of  us  to  clear 
matters  up  and  save  my  money.  I  know  the 
children  will  be  in  good  hands  when  they  are 
with  you  and  Aunt  Sallie.  So  we'll  let 
them  go." 

"And  can  we  take  Skyrocket?"  begged 
Jan. 

"Oh,  yes,  I  guess  so,"  replied  Uncle  Toby. 
"My  two  dogs,  Tip  and  Top,  have  been  sold. 
I  haven't  as  many  pets  as  I  had,  though 
Jack,  the  monkey,  Mr.  Kip,  the  parrot,  and 


56      The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

Snuff,  the  cat,  I  have  kept.  I  want  them 
for  company." 

"Then  if  we  take  our  dog  it  will  be  just 
about  right/'  decided  Ted.  "Well  leave 
Turnover,  our  cat,  here  with  Nora." 

"Yes,  she'll  need  company,"  said  Mrs. 
Martin.  "And  do  you  really  mean  it  about 
taking  some  playmates  for  Ted  and  Janet, 
Uncle  Toby?" 

"Of  course  I  do!  Let  Tom  and  Lola 
come!" 

"I'll  go  teU  them!"  offered  Ted. 

"I'll  come,  too,"  added  Jan. 

Trouble  wanted  to  follow,  but  as  it  was 
dark  now,  being  after  supper,  his  mother  de- 
cided the  best  place  for  him  was  in  bed. 
And  there  he  was  taken,  after  he  had  fallen 
asleep  in  Uncle  Toby's  arms. 

"But  what  is  this  about  some  other  chil- 
dren that  are  going  to  be  at  your  cabin?" 
asked  Mrs.  Martin,  while  Ted  and  Janet 
were  still  over  at  the  Taylor  home. 

"I'm  going  to  take  charge  of  two  little 
Fresh  Air  children,"  explained  Uncle  Toby. 
"You  know  I  give  money  to  some  of  the  big 
societies  in  the  city,  and  these  societies  send 
out  children  to  the  country  in  the  summer. 


Off  to  the  Country  57 

It  isn't  usual  to  send  them  out  in  the  winter, 
but  this  is  a  special  case. 

"  Their  mother,  whom  I  knew  when  she 
was  a  girl,  has  to  go  to  the  hospital  for  an 
operation,  and  she  has  no  one  with  whom 
she  can  leave  Harry  and  Mary.  So  I 
agreed  to  take  charge  of  them  this  winter, 
as  their  mother  may  have  to  stay  in  the  hos- 
pital a  long  time  to  get  well  and  strong." 

" Where  is  their  father — dead?"  asked 
Mr.  Martin. 

"I'm  afraid  he  is,"  answered  Uncle  Toby. 
"And  yet  it  isn't  known  for  sure." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  Mother 
Martin. 

"You  see  it's  this  way,"  Uncle  Toby  ex- 
plained. "Their  father,  Frank  Benton, 
went  to  the  big  war.  He  was  heard  of  for 
a  time  and  then  all  trace  of  him  was  lost. 
I  suppose  he  was  killed  in  some  battle  and 
never  found  until  after  the  fighting  was 
over.  Anyhow  his  two  children,  who  are 
about  as  old  as  Ted  and  Janet,  were  left 
with  their  mother.  She  took  care  of  them 
as  well  as  she  could  until  she  hecame  ill. 

"One  of  the  Fresh  Air  Society  ladies 
heard  about  their  sad  case  and  she  wrote 


58       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

to  me.  I  said  I'd  keep  the  children  all  win- 
ter. And  now  when  your  Curlytops  come 
out  with  their  friends  Tom  and  Lola  they'll 
find  other  playmates,  and  I  hope  they'll  all 
get  along  well  together." 

"I  think  they  will,"  said  Mr.  Martin. 
"It  is  very  kind  of  you  to  do  this." 

"Oh,  I  like  it!"  declared  Uncle  Tohy.  "I 
like  children  and  animals.  The  more  the 
merrier.  And  now  let's  plan  how  soon  the 
children  can  come  back  with  me." 

Ted  and  Jan  returned  a  little  later  with 
word  that  Tom  and  Lola  could  make  the  trip, 
and  the  next  few  days  were  busily  spent  in 
getting  ready.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Martin  made 
arrangements  to  go  on  their  trip,  to  try  to 
save  the  money  that  Daddy  Martin  was  in 
danger  of  losing. 

Except  for  this  there  would  have  been  no 
sadness  when  the  time  of  parting  came. 
But  the  Curlytops  could  not  help  seeing  that 
their  father  and  mother  looked  rather  wor- 
ried. 

"I  hope  Dad  doesn't  lose  that  money," 
said  Ted. 

"So  do  I,"  echoed  his  sister,  with  a  sigh. 

But  they  were  not  sad  for  long.  The  day 
oame  when  the  children  were  to  depart  for 


Off  to  the  Country  59 

their  holiday  stay  at  Uncle  Toby's  cabin  on 
the  shore  of  Crystal  Lake. 

"All  aboard!"  cried  the  jolly  old  gentle- 
man, as  the  automobile  drew  up  in  front  of 
the  house  to  take  along  the  Curlytops, 
Trouble,  Tom,  Lola,  Uncle  Toby  himself, 
and  Skyrocket.  l  '  All  aboard ! ' ' 

" Good-bye!  Good-bye!"  cried  the  chil- 
dren, as  they  piled  in.  The  dog  barked  his 
farewells. 

"Have  a  good  time !"  said  Mother  Martin, 
and  there  was  just  a  tear  or  two  in  her  eyes 
as  she  waved  her  hands. 

"We'll  have  you  all  back  again  after 
Christmas!"  said  Daddy  Martin. 

"Oh,  what  fun  we'll  have  at  Christmas!" 
shouted  Ted. 

"All  aboard!"  called  Uncle  Toby  again, 
and  they  were  off  on  the  first  part  of  their 
trip  to  the  country  for  the  holidays. 


CHAPTER  VI 

A  FLURRY  OF  SNOW 

UNCLE  TOBY  drove  the  Martin  automobile 
through  the  streets  of  Cresco.  The  car  was 
a  large,  comfortable,  roomy  one,  all  inclosed, 
so  that  the  cold  weather  would  make  no  dif- 
ference. There  was  even  a  small  heating 
apparatus,  a  sort  of  radiator  kept  warm  by 
the  muffler  under  the  car,  so  that  the  chil- 
dren would  be  cozy  and  warm  even  in  a 
snow  storm. 

"There's  Tommie  Wilson !"  called  Ted, 
as  he  saw  a  boy  walking  along  the  street. 
"He's  got  to  go  to  school!" 

"Yes,  and  there's  Bob  Newton,"  added 
Tom.  "I  guess  they  wish  they  were  like  us, 
and  didn't  have  to  go  to  school!" 

"Oh,  you'll  have  to  go  to  school  as  soon 
as  we  get  out  to  Crystal  Lake,"  declared 
Uncle  Toby.  "Don't  imagine,  because  you 
are  going  to  have  holiday  fun,  that  you 
won't  have  to  go  to  school." 

60 


A  Flurry  of  Snow  61 

"But  it'll  be  more  fun  going  to  school  out 
there  than  it  will  be  here,"  said  Tom. 

"Sure  it  will!"  agreed  Ted. 

Lola  and  Jan  leaned  over  toward  the  side 
window  of  the  auto  to  wave  to  Jennie 
Jackson,  a  girl  they  both  knew,  and  Jennie 
waved  back,  wonder  showing  on  her  face  at 
the  appearance  of  the  Curlytops  and  their 
playmates  going  off  in  an  automobile.  And 
when  the  other  children  of  Cresco  learned 
what  had  happened  to  Ted,  Jan,  Tom,  and 
Lola  there  were  some  sighs  of  disappoint- 
ment that  such  good  luck  had  not  happened 
to  every  boy  and  girl. 

Skyrocket  seemed  to  be  enjoying  himself 
very  much.  He  was  a  well-behaved  dog  and 
appeared  to  enjoy  the  ride  in  the  automo- 
bile. He  was  perched  on  the  front  seat,  be- 
tween Ted  and  Tom,  who  sat  beside  Uncle 
Toby.  In  the  back  were  the  two  girls  and 
the  baggage. 

"Oh !"  exclaimed  Ted,  when  they  had  rid- 
den on  some  little  distance  and  Uncle  Toby 
had  turned  into  the  broad  highway  that  led 
to  Pocono,  several  miles  away.  "Oh,  I  for- 
got all  about  it!" 

"Forgot  about  what?"  asked  Uncle  Toby, 


62      The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

as  lie  stopped  his  big  automobile  to  let  a 
little  car  shoot  out  of  a  side  street. 

"I  forgot  to  tell  the  fellows  they  could  use 
our  toboggan  slide  while  we're  gone,"  ex- 
plained Ted. 

"  That's  right!"  agreed  Tom.  "Bob 
Newton  and  some  of  the  other  boys  could 
have  fun  on  it  after  the  snow  comes.  We 
ought  to  have  told  'em!" 

"Shall  we  have  one  out  at  Crystal  Lake, 
Uncle  Toby?"  asked  Ted. 

"I  reckon  we  can  rig  up  one,"  was  the 
answer.  ' '  There  is  a  man  out  there  who  has 
a  real  toboggan,  too,  one  he  brought  from 
Canada," 

"Oh,  that'll  be  great!"  cried  Tom. 

On  went  the  big  car  with  the  Curlytops 
and  their  playmates,  bearing  them  to  the 
happy  country  where  they  hoped  to  have 
much  fun  over  the  Christmas  holidays  that 
would  soon  be  at  hand.  The  children 
looked  out  of  the  windows  of  the  car.  They 
had  made  an  early  start,  soon  after  sunrise, 
but  now  the  sun  had  gone  under  clouds. 

"Do  you  think  it  will  snow?"  Ted  anx- 
iously asked  of  Uncle  Toby. 

"I  shouldn't  wonder  but  what  it  might," 
was  the  answer.  "Do  you  want  it  to?" 


63 


"Sure  we  do!"  cried  all  four  children  at 
once,  and  Trouble  added: 

"I  make  a  snow  man,  I  will!" 

"Well,  then  I  guess  it  will  snow," 
chuckled  Uncle  Toby.  "And  I  wouldn't  be 
a  bit  surprised  if  we  should  have  a  storm 
before  we  get  to  my  place,"  he  added. 

"Do  you  mean  before  we  get  to  Crystal 
Lake?"  asked  Janet. 

"No,  for  we  aren't  going  there  direct," 
said  Uncle  Toby.  "We  are  first  going  to 
my  place  in  Pocono,  where  we'll  stay  a  few 
days.  I  have  to  get  some  things  there,  and 
also  take  aboard  two  more  children." 

"Two  more  children?"  cried  Ted  and 
Janet.  Then  Ted  added : 

"Who  are  they?" 

"I  hope  they'll  be  playmates  for  you," 
answered  Mr.  Bardeen.  "  I  '11  tell  you  about 
them  later.  Anyhow,  first  we'll  go  to 
Pocono,  and  later,  in  a  day  or  so,  out  to 
Crystal  Lake.  That  will  give  you  time  to 
meet  the  pets  again." 

"Are  you  going  to  take  them  out  to  the 
Lake  with  you?"  asked  Tom,  who  knew 
about  the  different  animals  Uncle  Toby  was 
so  found  of. 

"Well,  no,  I  hardly  think  so,"  was  the 


04       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

answer.  "It  will  be  pretty  cold  for  my  al- 
ligator, the  monkey,  and  the  parrot.  Smiff, 
my  cat,  will  be  better  off  if  she  stays  at  my 
house  in  Pocono.  But  you  can  take  Sky- 
rocket out  with  you." 

"That'll  be  all  right,"  decided  Ted. 
"But  it  would  be  a  lot  of  fun  if  we  could 
have  all  the  pets  out  at  the  Lake." 

"I'm  afraid  you'll  be  so  busy  having  good 
times  out  of  doors,  and  going  to  school,  at 
least  a  little,  that  you  wouldn't  have  much 
chance  to  play  with  the  pets,"  chuckled 
Uncle  Toby.  "And  I  wouldn't  want  any  of 
them  to  take  cold.  A  dog  is  all  right,  romp- 
ing out  in  the  snow,  but  frost  wasn't  meant 
for  monkeys  and  parrots." 

"Where  will  you  get  these  two  new  chil- 
dren that  are  going  to  be  our  playmates?" 
asked  Jan. 

"They  are  coming  on  a  train.  I  expect 
they'll  arrive  at  Pocono  about  a  week  after 
we  get  there.  I'll  tell  you  about  them  later. 
They  are  poor  children,  and  they  haven't 
had  as  many  good  times  as  you  Curlytops 
have  had,  so  I  hope  you'll  be  kind  to  them." 

"Oh,  we  will!"  chorused  all  four. 

"An'  I  tish  'em,  dat's  what  I  do!"  de- 
clared Trouble. 


A  Flurry  of  Snow  65 

"Yes,  and  111  'tish'  you!"  laughed  Lola, 
as  she  kissed  the  little  chap. 

On  and  on  rumbled  the  big  auto,  until  it 
came  to  a  small  town,  which,  as  soon  as  they 
reached  the  center  of  it,  Ted  and  Janet  re- 
membered. 

"We  stopped  here  for  dinner  when  we 
were  going  out  to  your  place  this  summer!" 
cried  Janet  to  Uncle  Toby. 

"Yes.  And  we're  going  to  stop  here  for 
lunch  again,"  said  Uncle  Toby.  "That  is, 
if  you  are  hungry,"  he  added  with  a  sly 
twinkle  in  his  eyes.  "Of  course  if  you'd 
rather  not  eat — " 

"Oh,  I  want  to  eat  all  right!"  shouted 
Tom  and  Ted  and  Janet  and  Lola,  all  at 
one  time. 

"I  wants  pie!"  burst  out  Trouble,  and 
they  all  shouted  with  laughter. 

A  little  later  the  car  drew  up  in  front  of 
a  restaurant. 

"Why,  it's  the  same  one  where  we 
ate  before!"  exclaimed  Jan,  in  wonder- 
ment. 

"Yes,  your  father  told  me  you  stopped 
here,"  said  Uncle  Toby. 

As  he  was  helping  the  children  out  of  the 
car  a  ragged  boy,  with  a  pinched  and 


66      The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

hungry  face,  stepped  up,  and,  touching  his 
cap,  asked: 

"Like  to  have  me  watch  your  machine, 
sir?  There's  been  a  lot  of  autos  stolen 
around  here  lately.  I'll  watch  it  good  for  a 
quarter." 

"Will  you?"  asked  Uncle  Toby,  with  a 
kind  smile.  "And  if  a  thief  comes,  what 
would  you  do?  You  aren't  very  big?" 

"I'd  holler  for  a  cop — I  mean  a  police- 
man," was  the  boy's  quick  answer.  "I 
know  the  policeman  on  this  beat." 

"All  right,  I  guess  you  can  watch  the 
machine,"  said  Mr.  Bardeen.  "Skyrocket 
will  help  you  keep  guard  over  it." 

"Who's  Skyrocket?" 

"This  dog,"  and  Uncle  Toby  pointed. 
Skyrocket  had  been  holding  back,  for  he  did 
not  like  strangers,  especially  ragged  ones, 
and  this  boy  was  rather  ragged.  But  when 
Uncle  Toby  made  it  plain  that  the  boy  was 
to  be  regarded  as  a  friend,  the  dog  wagged 
his  tail  in  welcome  and  curled  up  on  the 
front  seat. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  with  the  quar- 
ter I'm  to  give  you  for  watching  the  car?" 
asked  Uncle  Toby. 

"I'm  going  to  get  something  to  eat  with 


A  Flurry  of  Snow  67 

part  of  it,"  was  the  answer.  "I'm  hungry. 
The  rest  I  'm  going  to  turn  in  to  my  mother. 
She  needs  it." 

"Hum,"  said  Uncle  Toby,  thoughtfully. 
"That's  stretching  a  quarter  rather  too 
much,  I  think.  Now  you  sit  out  here  in  the 
car,  and  I'll  have  the  waiter  bring  you  some- 
thing to  eat  on  a  tray.  Oh,  don't  worry!" 
Mr.  Bardeen  hastened  to  say,  with  a  smile. 
"It  won't  come  out  of  your  quarter.  I'll 
put  it  on  my  bill.  And  I'm  going  to  have 
a  bone  sent  out  for  Skyrocket.  He'll  keep 
you  company." 

"Yes,  sir.  I  like  dogs,"  said  the  boy, 
with  a  smile.  "I'm  much  obliged  to  you. 
Ill  watch  your  car  good." 

"Yes.  I  think  you  will.  Well,  children, 
run  in  and  get  started  on  your  lunch.  I 
don't  want  to  get  to  Pocono  after  dark,  and 
it  looks  as  if  we  might  get  caught  in  a  snow 
storm,  but  it  may  hold  off." 
,  The  Curlytops  and  their  playmates  were 
ushered  to  their  seats  by  a  waiter  who 
smiled  at  them. 

"Do  you  remember  us?"  asked  Ted,  while 
Uncle  Toby  was  giving  orders  to  another 
waiter  about  sending  something  to  eat  out 
to  the  boy,  and  also  a  bone  for  Skyrocket. 


68      The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

"Of  course  I  remember  you,"  the  waiter 
answered,  as  he  pushed  the  chairs  under 
Janet  and  Lola.  "And  I  haven't  forgotten 
what  that  little  chap  did,"  and  he  pointed 
to  William,  who  was  staring  about  the  room 
as  if  trying  to  remember  where  he  had  seen 
it  before. 

"What  did  Trouble  do?"  asked  Lola. 

"He  turned  the  faucet  of  the  water-cooler 
and  let  the  ice  water  run  all  over  the  floor," 
explained  Janet  with  a  laugh.  "Mother's 
feet  were  in  the  puddle  of  water  before  we 
knew  what  had  happened." 

"Oh,  Trouble!"  chided  Lola,  "Did  you 
do  that?" 

"Well — well,  I  didn't  do  it  on  pur — now 
—on  purspuss!"  stammered  Trouble,  as 
they  all  laughed. 

Uncle  Toby  came  and  sat  down  at  the 
table  with  the  children,  and  the  waiter  who 
remembered  the  Curlytop  party  from  their 
other  visit  was  soon  busy  serving  them.  A 
good  meal  on  a  tray  was  taken  out  to  the 
boy  in  the  automobile  and  a  juicy  bone  was 
sent  to  Skyrocket. 

"This  is  jolly  good  fun!"  declared  Tom, 
who  had  not  traveled  about  as  much  as  had 
the  Curlytops. 


A  Flurry  of  Snow  69 

uWait  until  we  get  out  to  Crystal  Lake!" 
exclaimed  Ted.  "Then  we'll  have  more 
fun.  I  hope  school  won't  be  very  hard," 
he  added  in  a  whisper  to  his  playmate. 

"Oh,  teachers  aren't  very  strict  around 
the  holidays,"  answered  Tom. 

The  meal  was  almost  over  when  Lola, 
glancing  out  of  the  window,  uttered  an  ex- 
clamation and  cried  : 

"It's  snowing!" 

Surely  enough,  a  flurry  of  the  white  crys- 
tals was  falling. 

Uncle  Toby  looked  a  bit  anxious. 

"I  don't  want  to  hurry  you  children," 
he  said.  "But  as  soon  as  you  have  finished 
we'd  better  be  on  our  way.  We  don't  want 
to  be  stuck  in  the  snow." 

And  as  they  went  out  to  get  in  the  automo- 
bile again  the  air  was  thick  with  the  white 
flakes. 


CHAPTER 

IN  THE  STORM 

SEEING  the  Curlytops  and  their  play- 
mates coming  from  the  restaurant  with 
Uncle  Toby,  the  boy  who  had  been  watching 
the  automobile  got  out,  followed  by  Sky- 
rocket. 

"Well,  I  see  you  didn't  let  any  one  take 
the  car,"  said  Uncle  Toby  with  a  smile, 
as  he  paid  the  boy,  giving  him  more  money 
than  the  lad  had  asked  for. 

"Oh,  no!  They  couldn't  take  this  car 
while  I  was  in  it,"  was  the  reply.  "Though 
I  guess  your  dog  would  make  a  fuss,  too, 
if  anybody  tried  it.  Two  or  three  men  just 
sort  of  stepped  up  to  look  at  the  car,  and 
Firecracker  growled." 

"Firecracker?"  exclaimed  Ted,  with  a 
laugh. 

"Yes.  Isn't  that  the  name  you  called 
your  dog?"  asked  the  boy. 

"No;  it's  Skyrocket,"  answered  Jan. 

70 


In  the  Storm  71 


"Well,  I  knew  it  had  something  to  do 
with  fireworks,"  laughed  the  ragged  lad. 

"But  this  is  too  much  money,"  he  said 
to  Uncle  Toby. 

"That's  all  right,  I  guess  you've  earned 
it,"  was  the  reply.  "Sitting  in  a  car  doing 
nothing  isn't  much  fun." 

The  snow  flakes  kept  on  sifting  (down, 
swirling  faster  and  faster  as  the  automobile 
started  off,  the  children  calling  their  good- 
byes to  the  boy  who  had  watched  the  car. 
They  had  left  him  much  better  off  than 
when  they  first  met  him,  for  he  had  had  a 
good  meal  and  earned  some  money. 

"Sit  tight  now,  everybody!"  ordered 
Uncle  Toby,  as  they  left  the  busier  part 
of  the  village  where  they  had  stopped  for 
a  meal,  and  drew  near  the  open  country. 
"Sit  tight,  for  I'm  going  to  drive  faster, 
and  I  don't  want  you  falling  off  the  seats." 

"What  you  goin'  to  drive  fast  for*?" 
Trouble  wanted  to  know.  "Is  you  goin'  to 
have  a  race,  Uncle  Toby?" 

"A  sort  of  race,  yes,  Trouble,"  was  the 
answer.  "I'm  going  to  race  and  see  if 
we  can  get  home  ahead  of  the  big  storm 
that  I'm  afraid  is  coming1  down  on  us." 

'Do  you  think  it  will  be  a  very  big 


.. 


72       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

stormi"  asked  Ted,  and  he  looked  with 
laughing  eyes  at  Tom. 

"I  shouldn't  wonder,"  was  the  answer. 
"And,  though  we  have  a  strong  car  here,  we 
don't  want  to  get  stuck  in  a  snow  drift  and 
have  to  stay  all  night." 

"I  should  think  that  would  be  lots  of 
fun,"  said  Tom. 

"What?  With  nothing  to  eat  except  a 
few  chocolate  cakes  Jan  and  Lola  have  in 
a  bag?"  exclaimed  Uncle  Toby.  "That  is 
if  they  have  any  of  the  cakes  left." 

"Oh,  yes,  we  have  them,"  Jan  hastened 
to  say,  for  she  and  her  girl  chum  had  bought 
some  just  before  reaching  the  restaurant, 
and  had  not  eaten  them. 

"Well,  that's  all  we'd  have  in  the  way 
of  *  rations,'  as  the  soldiers  call  them,  if  we 
got  stuck  in  the  storm,"  declared  Uncle 
Toby. 

"Then  we  don't  want  to  get  stuck," 
decided  Ted,  and  Tom  agreed  with  him. 
The  boys  were  fond  of  eating.  Most  boys 
are,  I  believe. 

What  Uncle  Toby  said  and  feared  about 
the  storm  seemed  to  be  coming  true.  Of 
course  the  automobile  was  very  far  from 
being  caught  in  any  drift,  for  the  snow 


In  the  Storm  73 


had  not  yet  begun  to  pile  up  very  much. 
But  the  flakes  were  coming  down  thicker 
and  faster,  and  the  wind  was  beginning  to 
blow.  It  did  not  blow  inside  the  cozy  car, 
which  was  warm  and  comfortable,  so  that 
the  boys  and  girls  could  unbutton  their 
wraps.  But  they  could  hear  the  wind 
swishing  around  outside,  and  they  could 
see  the  flakes  of  snow  dashed  against  the 
glass  windows. 

After  riding  about  an  hour,  the  party 
was  out  in  a  country  district  where  the 
houses  were  few  and  far  apart.  It  was 
rather  lonesome,  for  they  went  many  miles 
without  meeting  another  automobile.  The 
snow  was  deeper  here,  and,  more  than  once, 
the  wheels  of  the  Martin  car  ran  through 
little  piles  of  white  crystals. 

' ' They've  had  a  storm  here  before  this 
one  that's  blowing  now,"  said  Uncle  Toby, 
as  he  looked  at  what  were  really  quite  high 
drifts  on  some  parts  of  the  road.  "It  may 
be  worse  farther  on. ' ' 

"Shall  we  get  stuck?"  Ted  wanted  to 
know. 

"There's  no  telling,"  answered  Uncle 
Toby. 

Ted  and  Tom  did  not  want  to  say  they 


74       The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

were  glad  of  it,  but  they  were  real  boys 
and  they  felt  that  they  would  not  a  bit 
mind  being  caught  in  a  big  drift  so  they 
would  have  to  dig  their  way  out.  They 
forgot,  for  the  time,  about  having  nothing 
to  eat. 

Passing  through  a  small  village,  which 
was  now  thickly  covered  with  snow  from 
the  storm  that  was  getting  worse  and  worse 
all  the  while,  Uncle  Toby  drove  the  car 
once  more  out  in  the  country.  Suddenly  he 
leaned  forward  and  shifted  the  gear  lever. 

" What's  the  matter?"  asked  Ted. 

"I'm  going  into  second  speed, "  was  the 
answer,  and  the  boys  knew  what  this  meant. 
"There's  quite  a  hill  ahead  of  us,"  Uncle 
Toby  went  on.  "Though  I  could  take  it 
on  high  if  it  wasn't  for  the  snow,  I  can't 
do  it  now.  We'll  try  it  on  second,  and  if 
that  won't  bring  us  up  we'll  have  to  go  back 
into  first  speed." 

"Shall  we  get  to  your  house  to-night?" 
asked  Jan. 

"Oh,  yes,"  answered  Uncle  Toby. 
"Don't  worry!" 

But  Jan  could  not  help  feeling  a  bit 
anxious.  She  was  more  worried  over  what 
might  happen  to  Trouble  than  herself,  her 


In  the  Storm  75 


other  brother  or  her  playmates,  for  they 
were  all  older.  But  Trouble  was  used  to 
his  mother  at  night. 

How  he  would  behave  now,  away  from 
home  for  the  first  time,  remained  to  be  seen. 
Jan  wondered  what  her  father  and  mother 
were  doing  now,  and  she  hoped  Daddy 
Martin  would  not  lose  that  money.  She 
wondered  if  they  would  be  poor.  That 
wouldn't  be  at  all  pleasant,  she  thought. 

However,  her  ideas  and  those  of  the  others 
were  suddenly  switched  into  new  places,  for 
the  big  car  gave  a  lurch  to  one  side  and 
came  to  a  stop  with  a  jolt,  awakening 
Trouble. 

"What's  matter?"  he  asked  sleepily. 

"I  am  afraid  we  are  stuck, "  said  Uncle 
Toby. 

" There's  a  big  drift  right  in  front  of 
us,"  announced  Ted. 

"Yes,"  agreed  Mr.  Bardeen.  "I  thought 
I  could  go  through  it  but  it's  deeper  than 
I  had  any  idea  of.  No  you  don't!"  he 
quickly  cried  as  the  automobile  seemed 
about  to  slip  backward.  He  put  on  both 
brakes  and  brought  the  car  to  a  stop. 

"Oh,  is  anything  going  to  happen  ?"  asked 
Lola. 


76       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

"No!  No!"  laughed  Uncle  Toby.  "Don't 
be  afraid.  I  didn't  change  into  first  speed 
quickly  enough  and  stalled,  or  stopped  my 
engine.  I'll  start  up  again  in  a  minute. 
But  I  guess  I'd  better  put  some  stones  under 
the  wheels,  to  block  them  so  they  won't 
slide  downhill  as  I  start  up  again  with  the 
brakes  off." 

"We'll  get  some  stones!"  cried  Ted.  "I 
know  how  to  do  that !  I  often  do  it  for  dad 
on  a  hill.  Come  on,  Tom!" 

The  two  boys  scrambled  from  the  car  out 
into  the  storm.  As  the  door  was  opened  in 
came  a  swirl  of  white  flakes,  and  Trouble 
tried  to  catch  them  by  sticking  out  his  red 
tongue. 

"I  guess  you'll  have  hard  work  to  find 
any  stones,"  said  Uncle  Toby,  looking  at 
Tom  and  Ted  floundering  around  in  the 
snow.  "But  it  won't  be  safe  to  take  the 
brakes  off  until  we  get  something  to  block 
the  wheels." 

The  reason  for  that  was  this.  The  car 
was  now  held  from  sliding  backward  down- 
hill because  Uncle  Toby  had  put  on  the 
brakes.  But  to  start  up  again,  even  in  first 
or  lowest  speed,  he  would  have  to  take  off 
the  brakes,  and  the  car  might  begin  to  slide 


In  the  Storm  77 


down  before  the  engine  could  begin  pulling 
it  up.  With  stones  blocked  behind  the  rear 
wheels,  this  would  not  happen. 

"Oh,  we'll  find  some  stones !"  cried  Tom, 
kicking  about  in  the  snow,  moving  his  feet 
from  side  to  side.  Soon  he  felt  something 
big  and  hard.  Reaching  down  with  Ms 
hands,  he  began  clearing  away  the  snow 
and  discovered  a  stone.  But  it  was  frozen 
fast  to  the  ground,  and  Tom  could  not  move 
it. 

"Ill  help  you!"  offered  Ted,  running 
over  to  his  chum.  Ted  had  not  yet  found 
any  stone. 

As  the  boys  kicked  away  at  the  stone,  hop- 
ing to  loosen  it,  Trouble  called  out  through 
the  crack  of  the  door : 

"Is  you  playin'  feetball?" 

"It  does  look  like  it,  doesn't  it?"  laughed 
Ted,  and  then,  with  a  last  hard  kick,  he 
loosened  the  stone  that  Tom  had  found. 

"Good  boys!"  cried  Uncle  Toby.  "Put 
it  back  of  the  wheels  and  look  for  another." 
He  had  to  stay  in  the  car  lest  the  brakes 
might  slip  and  let  it  back  down  the  hill. 

Tom  and  Ted  put  this  one  stone  behind 
the  left  wheel,  and  then  began  kicking  about 
in  the  snow  to  find  another.  This  time  Ted 


78       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

had  the  luck,  finding  a  larger  stone  than 
the  one  uncovered  by  his  chum. 

With  hard  kicks  the  two  small  chaps 
worked  away  at  the  frozen  stone.  More 
than  once  they  missed  their  aim,  and  they 
kicked  up  clouds  of  snow,  making  Lola  and 
Janet  laugh,  Trouble  joining  in.  But  at 
last  the  second  stone  was  loosened  and 
placed  behind  the  other  wheel. 

"Now  I  can  take  off  the  brakes  and  start 
up  the  hill,"  said  Uncle  Toby.  "Hop  in, 
boys!" 

Standing  on  the  running  board  Ted  and 
Tom  knocked  the  snow  from  their  shoes  and 
took  their  places  inside  the  warm  car.  They 
were  breathing  hard  from  their  labors,  and 
their  cheeks  were  red  with  the  cold,  while 
their  coats  and  caps  were  covered  with 
snowflakes. 

The  engine  had  not  stopped  running, 
though  it  was  out  of  gear.  But  now  Uncle 
Toby  took  off  the  brakes  and  began  to  go 
into  first  speed,  and  slowly  the  car  moved 
up  the  hill.  The  snow  was  very  slippery 
and  more  than  once  the  hind  wheels  spun 
around  uselessly. 

"I'll  put  chains  on  when  we  get  to  the 


In  the  Storm  79 


top  of  the  Mil/'  said  Uncle  Toby.  "I  ought 
to  have  done  it  before." 

Slowly  the  car  went  up  through  the  storm, 
the  children  almost  holding  their  breaths, 
as  if  that  would  help.  But  finally  the  sum- 
mit of  the  hill  was  reached  and  the  danger 
was  over  for  the  present. 

"Now  we  can  speed  up,  after  I  put  on  the 
chains,"  said  Uncle  Toby,  bringing  the  car 
to  a  stop  beneath  some  overhanging  ever- 
green trees  that  grew  on  one  side  of  the  road. 
"Ch'is'mus  twees,"  Trouble  called  them. 

But  as  Mr.  Bardeen  was  getting  out  Ted 
uttered  a  cry  of  alarm. 

4 'Where's  Skyrocket?"  he  asked. 

Then,  for  the  first  time,  every  one  noticed 
that  the  dog  was  not  in  the  car. 

Where  was  Skyrocket  ? 


CHAPTER  VIII 

A  STALLED  TRAIN 

FOB  a  few  moments  the  children  could 
scarcely  believe  that  Skyrocket  was  not  in 
the  automobile  with  them.  Janet  and  Lola 
had  been  so  busy  watching  the  boys  kick 
loose  the  stones,  and  Ted  and  Tom  had  been 
so  occupied  in  this  work,  that  none  of  them 
had  paid  much  attention  to  the  dog.  Uncle 
Toby  had  also  watched  the  boys,  and  as 
for  Trouble,  catching  an  occasional  snow- 
flake  on  his  tongue  gave  him  so  much  to  do 
that  he  did  not  look  after  Skyrocket. 

"But  where  is  our  dog?"  asked  Ted,  when 
it  became  certain  that  the  pet  was  not  in 
the  car. 

"Maybe  he's  under  the  seat  asleep,"  sug- 
gested Lola. 

They  looked,  but  Skyrocket  was  not  there. 

"He  must  have  jumped  out  when  the  door 
was  open,"  said  Tom. 

80 


A  Stalled  Train  81 

"111  go  back  and  look  for  him,"  offered 
Ted.  He  made  a  move  to  leave  the  car, 
but  Uncle  Toby  stopped  him. 

"If  any  one  goes  back  after  that  dog,  I'm 
going !"  said  the  old  sailor,  for  that  is  what 
Uncle  Toby  had  once  been.  "The  snow  is 
too  deep  for  your  legs,"  he  added,  looking 
at  Ted's  short  ones.  "And  you  two  lads 
have  already  done  work  enough  in  getting 
the  stones  to  block  the  wheels.  You  know 
how  fond  I  am  of  pets,  so  I'll  go  back  and 
get  Skyrocket.  I  suppose  he's  looking  for 
us  all  this  while." 

"You'll  be  sure  to  get  him,  won't  you, 
Uncle  Toby?"  asked  Jan. 

"Of  course  I  will;  unless  he's  gone  full 
speed  ahead  back  home,  and  I  don't  believe 
he  has.  Now  you  children  stay  here  in  this 
car  until  I  come  back.  And  don't  go  out- 
side. It's  snowing  harder  and  it  is  getting 
colder.  So  stay  inside." 

The  Curlytops  and  their  playmates 
promised  to  do  this,  and  then  Uncle  Toby 
stepped  out  into  the  storm.  He  turned  up 
his  coat  collar  and  tramped  off  through  the 
drifts,  which  were,  each  moment,  getting 
deeper  and  deeper.  So  fast  was  the  snow 


82       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

coming  down  now  that  he  could  hardly  see 
the  marks  left  by  the  wheels  where  he  had 
driven  up  the  hill. 

The  children  looked  out  through  the  back 
window  in  the  automobile  and  watched 
Uncle  Toby.  He  was  soon  out  of  sight  be- 
low the  top  of  the  hill,  and  all  that  Ted 
and  the  others  could  see  was  the  cloud  of 
swirling  flakes  of  white. 

"I — I  hope  he  finds  Skyrocket,"  faltered 
Janet. 

"I  hope  so,  too,"  added  Ted. 

"He  sure  is  a  good  dog!"  declared  Tom. 

Then  all  the  Curlytops  could  do  was  to 
wait  for  Uncle  Toby  to  come  back. 

Meanwhile  the  old  sailor  was  trudging 
back  through  the  storm,  going  down  the 
hill  up  which  he  had  lately  driven  the  big 
car. 

"It's  easy  now,"  thought  Uncle  Toby  to 
himself,  "but  it  won't  be  so  easy  going  back. 
I'll  have  the  wind  in  my  face  and  I'll  have 
to  go  uphill.  But  never  mind!  We'll  have 
jolly  good  times — the  children  and  I — when 
we  get  to  my  cabin  out  at  the  Lake." 

As  he  walked  along  through  the  storm 
Uncle  Toby  looked  on  each  side  of  the  road 


A  Stalled  Train  83 

for  a  sight  of  Skyrocket.  But  he  did  not 
see  the  dog.  Nor  was  there  any  answering 
bark  in  reply  to  the  shrill  whistles  uttered 
by  Uncle  Toby. 

"Here,  Sky!  Here,  Skyrocket!"  the  old 
sailor  would  call  every  now  and  then,  but 
no  dog  appeared. 

"He  must  have  jumped  out  away  back 
where  I  stalled  the  car,"  thought  Uncle 
Toby.  "Poor  dog!  He'll  freeze  if  he  has 
to  stay  out  all  night.  And  I  don't  know 
what  I'll  do  with  those  children  if  I  don't 
find  their  pet  for  them.  Skyrocket,  where 
are  you?" 

On  and  on  went  Uncle  Toby,  through  the 
whirling  snow.  He  was  almost  back  to 
where  the  car  had  stopped  when  suddenly 
he  heard  a  series  of  barks  off  to  one  side 
of  the  road,  in  a  clump  of  trees. 

"That  sounds  like  him!"  exclaimed  the 
sailor.  "Hello  there,  Skyrocket!"  he  cried. 

The  barking  became  louder.  Uncle  Toby 
floundered  through  the  drifts,  off  the  road 
and  over  toward  the  clump  of  evergreen 
trees.  As  he  neared  them  a  dog  came  dash- 
ing out,  capering  about  in  the  fluffy  drifts. 

"Hello,  Skyrocket!    I've  found  you  all 


84       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

right ! ' '  said  Uncle  Toby.  *  '  But  what  in  the 
world  are  you  doing  back  here?  What 
made  you  jump  out  of  the  car?" 

All  the  answer  Skyrocket  made  was  to 
bark.  He  leaped  about  Uncle  Toby  and 
seemed  very  glad  to  see  him.  But  when 
the  man  started  back  toward  the  road, 
thinking  the  dog  would  follow,  Skyrocket 
only  barked  more  loudly  and  raced  back 
toward  the  clump  of  trees. 

"What's  the  matter?  Is  there  some 
other  dog  back  there  you'd  rather  play  with 
than  come  to  the  Curlytops  ?"  asked  the  old 
sailor.  *  *  What 's  the  idea  ?  " 

Skyrocket  acted  in  such  a  queer  way  that 
Uncle  Toby  turned  back  to  see  what  the  mat- 
ter was.  And  this  was  just  what  the  wise 
dog  seemed  to  want,  for  he  wagged  his  tail 
joyfully  and  raced  back  ahead  of  Uncle 
Toby. 

When  the  old  sailor  reached  the  clump  of 
trees,  under  the  heavy  branches  of  which  the 
snow  was  not  so  thick,  he  heard  a  faint 
mewing  sound. 

*  *  Bless  my  heart !  A  kitten ! ' '  cried  Uncle 
Toby. 

And  a  kitten  it  was!    A  dear,  cute,  little 


A  Stalled  Train  85 

kitten,  half  way  up  one  of  the  trees,  cuddled 
down  in  the  thick,  green  branches. 

"Well,  no  wonder  you  didn't  want  to 
come  back  and  leave  this  poor  little  kitten 
here  in  the  cold  and  storm,"  said  kind  Uncle 
Toby.  "You're  a  good  dog,  Skyrocket!" 

At  this  Skyrocket  wagged  his  tail  harder 
than  evei,  so  it  seemed  a  wonder  that  it  did 
not  fly  off,  and  his  throat  must  have  ached 
with  all  the  barking  he  did. 

The  kitten  mewed  and  stood  up  when  it 
saw  Uncle  Toby.  It  did  not  appear  to  be 
afraid  of  Skyrocket,  who  was  capering 
around  on  the  ground  under  the  tree. 

"I'll  get  you  down  and  take  you  back  with 
me,"  said  the  old  sailor.  "Come  on,  pussy! 
I  don't  know  where  I  am  going  to  get  any 
milk  to  give  you  until  we  get  to  my  place  in 
Pocono.  But  I  guess  you'll  stand  it  until 
then.  I  wonder  how  you  got  out  here  in  the 
woods  all  alone?" 

There  was  no  way  of  finding  this  out,  and 
there  was  no  house  near  from  which  the  lit- 
tle kitten  might  have  wandered.  Uncle 
Toby  had  an  idea  it  might  have  been  lost 
out  of  some  car  in  which  some  children,  like 
the  Curlytops,  had  been  riding.  Then  the 


86       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

little  animal  wandered  into  the  clump  of 
evergreens  for  shelter,  and  Skyrocket  had 
trailed  it  there.  The  dog  had  probably  dis- 
covered the  pussy  as  he  was  racing  around 
after  he  had  slipped  out  of  the  car,  unseen 
by  the  children  or  Uncle  Toby. 

"But  you'll  be  all  right  now/'  said  the 
kind  old  sailor.  "Come  to  me,  pussy!" 

The  kitten  arched  its  back,  seeming  glad 
of  a  chance  to  stretch  after  being  cramped 
on  the  limb.  Reaching  up,  Uncle  Toby 
lifted  it  down  and  put  it  snugly  in  the  pocket 
of  his  big  overcoat. 

"Well,  I  wonder  if  you'll  come  back  with 
me  now!"  asked  Uncle  Toby  of  Skyrocket, 
when  the  kitten  had  been  rescued. 

Skyrocket  seemed  very  willing,  for  he  no 
longer  hung  back,  but  followed  with  joyful 
barks  and  waggings  of  his  tail  as  Uncle 
Toby  strode  through  the  storm  with  the  kit- 
ten he  had  rescued. 

It  was  hard  work  tramping  back  up  the 
hill  through  the  storm  and  drifts  of  snow 
with  the  wind  blowing  in  his  face,  but  the 
old  sailor  managed  it,  and  soon  the  Curly- 
tops  and  their  friends,  who  had  been  anx- 
iously watching  through  the  back  window, 
saw  him  looming  into  view. 


A  Stalled  Train  87 

"Here  comes  Uncle  Toby!"  cried  Jan, 
who  was  the  first  to  spy  him. 

"Has  he  got  Skyrocket?"  asked  Ted. 

"Yes,  I  see  him!"  said  Tom.  "He's  got 
your  dog  all  right." 

A  little  later  Uncle  Toby  was  knocking  the 
snow  off  his  shoes  on  the  running  board  of 
the  car,  and  soon  he  was  safely  inside  with 
the  dog. 

"Where  was  he?"  Ted  wanted  to  know. 
"What  were  you  doing  back  there,  Sky- 
rocket?" he  asked  his  pet. 

"He  was  guarding  this,"  said  Uncle  Toby, 
and  out  of  his  pocket  came  the  little  kitten. 

"Oh!  Oh!"  murmured  Lola.  "Isn't  it  a 
darling!" 

"How  cute!  Oh,  what  a  dear!"  ex- 
claimed Jan. 

"My  kitten!  Mine!"  cried  Trouble,  al- 
ways ready  to  claim  any  new  pet  he  saw. 

"Did  you  really  find  it?"  asked  Tom,  as 
Jan  took  the  kitten  into  her  lap  while  she 
and  Lola  rubbed  it,  Trouble  getting  an  oc- 
casional finger  or  two  on  the  soft  fur. 

"Skyrocket  found  it,  and  I  got  it  down 
out  of  the  tree,"  explained  the  old  sailor, 
with  a  laugh.  "Now  I  guess  we  can  move 
along  again.  I  wish  we  had  some  milk  for 


88       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

you,"  he  went  on,  looking  at  the  little  cat. 
"But  we'll  be  home  before  dark — if  we  have 
good  luck,"  he  added,  as  he  glanced  out  into 
the  storm. 

Once  again  the  automobile  started,  with 
a  new  passenger  on  board.  Skyrocket  was 
used  to  cats,  and  after  he  had  taken  part  in 
the  rescue  of  the  kitten  he  paid  no  more  at- 
tention to  it  but  curled  up  and  went  to  sleep. 
As  for  the  kitten,  it  did  not  seem  to  mind 
the  dog  in  the  least. 

"I  guess  it  isn't  very  hungry,  Uncle 
Toby,"  said  Jan  in  a  low  voice,  after  they 
had  ridden  several  miles.  "See,  it's  going 
to  sleep." 

And  the  little  kitten,  with  eyes  closed,  was 
curled  contentedly  in  her  lap. 

Uncle  Toby's  main  thought  now  was  to 
drive  as  fast  as  he  could  with  safety,  so  he 
would  get  the  children  to  his  home  in  Pocono 
before  the  storm  grew  any  worse  and  before 
night  came. 

Once  in  his  house  at  Pocono  they  could  re- 
main until  the  weather  cleared  before  going 
out  to  the  cabin  at  Crystal  Lake  to  spend 
the  holidays. 

They  passed  through  a  small  town,  and 
Jan  suggested  they  might  stop  and  get  some 


A  Stalled  Train  89 

milk  for  the  kitten,  which  had  awakened, 
and  was  mewing  a  little. 

"I  think  we'd  better  not  stop  now,"  said 
Mr.  Bardeen.  "It  is  better  for  the  pussy 
to  be  a  little  hungry  for  a  time  than  for  us 
to  get  stuck  in  the  snow  with  night  coming 
on.  We'd  all  be  hungry  then.  We'll  soon 
be  home." 

They  came  to  a  railroad  track,  almost  hid- 
den under  the  snow,  and  Uncle  Toby 
stopped  the  automobile,  and,  opening  the 
door  a  little  way,  seemed  to  be  listen- 
ing. 

" What's  the  matter?"  asked  Ted. 

"I  wanted  to  hear  if  the  train  was  com- 
ing," was  the  answer.  "One  is  due  here 
about  now,  and  I  didn't  want  to  cross  the 
tracks  if  it  was  too  near.  But  I  guess  it's 
late  on  account  of  the  storm.  It  will  be 
safe  to  cross." 

He  drove  over  the  tracks  and  was  just 
speeding  up  again  when  they  all  heard  a 
distant  whistle. 

"There's  the  train!"  exclaimed  Tom. 

Then  came  several  more  whistles,  long 
toots  and  short  toots  in  such  a  queer  com- 
bination that  they  all  knew  something  must 
be  the  matter. 


90       The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

"Maybe  there's  been  an  accident,"  said 
Ted. 

"Maybe,"  agreed  Uncle  Toby.  "But  I 
think  that  the  train  is  stuck  in  a  deep  cut 
not  far  from  here.  The  cut  may  be  filled 
with  snow  so  the  train  can't  get  through. 
It's  probably  stalled  there." 

"Will  anybody  be  hurt?"  asked  Janet. 

"No,  only  delayed  for  a  while.  Men  will 
come  with  shovels  to  dig  out  the  train.  We 
can  soon  see  what  has  happened,  for  the 
auto  road  passes  near  the  railroad  cut." 

A  little  later  they  saw  that  what  Uncle 
Toby  had  guessed  at  had  come  to  pass. 
The  children  saw  a  passenger  train  with  the 
front  part  of  the  engine  buried  deep  in  a 
pile  of  snow  that  filled  a  cut  between  two 
rocky  hills  on  either  side  of  the  track. 

As  the  automobile  came  in  sight  of  the 
train  the  engineer  blew  several  more  shrill 
whistles,  waking  up  Skyrocket,  who  began 
to  bark  loudly. 


CHAPTER  IX 

NEW  PLAYMATES 

JUST  hear  him  toot!"  cried  Jan,  putting 
her  hands  over  her  ears,  for  the  automobile 
was  now  quite  close  to  the  train  stuck  in  the 
big  snow  drift.  The  drift  was  much  deeper 
here  than  at  any  other  point  along  the  rail- 
road, because  the  narrow  cut  between  the 
high  rocks  held  the  white  flakes  tightly 
packed. 

"Sounds  as  if  it  was  calling  us,"  said  Lola. 

"I  believe  it  is!"  exclaimed  Ted,  as  the 
toots  of  the  whistle  kept  up.  "Do  you 
s'pose  he  could  want  us  to  help  him,  Uncle 
Toby?" 

"How  could  an  auto  pull  a  stalled  train 
out  of  a  snowdrift?"  asked  Tom. 

"Course  we  couldn't  pull  the  train," 
admitted  Ted.  "But  we  could  sort  of — now 
— do  something,  couldn't  we,  Uncle  Toby?" 
he  asked. 

"I  believe  we  could,  and  I  think  that  is 

91 


92       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

what  the  engineer  is  trying  to  signal  us  for," 
was  the  answer.  "I  know  this  railroad  cut. 
It  is  a  bad  place  in  a  storm.  Often  trains 
have  been  stuck  here  for  days.  The  engine 
would  ram  its  pilot,  or  cowcatcher,  into  a 
drift,  then  snow  would  pile  up  behind  the 
last  car  and  the  train  couldn't  go  ahead  or 
back  up." 

" Maybe  that's  happened  now !"  exclaimed 
Lola. 

"I  shouldn't  be  a  bit  surprised,"  said 
Uncle  Toby. 

"But  what  do  the  passengers  do  when  the 
train  is  stuck,  like  this  one  is  now?"  Tom 
wanted  to  know. 

"Oh,  sometimes  they  get  out  and  walk, 
as  it  isn't  very  far  to  the  station.  Or  if 
they  have  something  to  eat,  and  can  keep 
warm  in  the  cars,  they  stay  there  until  men 
come  with  shovels  to  dig  out  the  train.  I 
guess  that's  what  this  engineer  wants  me 
for — to  go  on  to  the  station  and  have  a  gang 
of  men  sent  to  dig  out  his  train.  We'll  soon 
find  out,"  Uncle  Toby  remarked. 

The  automobile  road  ran  close  to  the 
tracks  and  near  the  deep  cut  which  was  filled 
with  snow.  The  storm  was  getting  worse. 


New  Playmates  93 

but  on  the  level  there  was  not  yet  enough 
snow  to  have  stopped  a  train.  It  was  only 
in  the  cut  that  the  drift  was  deep  enough 
for  this. 

Uncle  Toby  stopped  the  automobile  as 
near  the  stalled  train  as  he  could  go,  and 
waited.  Soon  the  engineer  and  a  man  with 
gold  braid  on  his  cap  came  floundering 
through  the  deep  snow  at  the  side  of  the 
train  until  they  were  within  calling  distance 
of  Uncle  Toby,  who  opened  the  car  door  to 
listen. 

"  Could  you  oblige  us  by  going  to  the  next 
station  and  having  the  telegraph  operator 
send  word  to  headquarters  that  we're 
stalled?"  asked  the  man  with  the  gold  braid 
on  his  cap.  He  was  the  conductor  of  the 
train. 

"Yes,  I'll  do  that  for  you,"  said  Uncle 
Toby.  "I  thought  you  were  whistling  for 
help,"  he  added  to  the  engineer. 

"That's  what  I  was,"  came  the  answer. 
"I  saw  you  just  in  time.  'Tisn't  often  that 
an  auto  has  to  come  to  the  help  of  a  steam 
engine,  but  it  happened  this  time,"  he  added, 
with  a  smile. 

"Is  there  anything  else  I  can  do  for  you?" 


94       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

asked  Uncle  Toby,  as  he  prepared  to  start  off 
again.  The  station  was  a  little  out  of  his 
way,  but  he  didn't  mind  that. 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  replied  the  con- 
ductor slowly.  "We  haven't  many  passen- 
gers on  board,  and  all  except  a  little  boy  and 
girl  who  are  on  their  way  to  Pocono  will  be 
all  right.  The  way  it  is  now  we'll  hardly 
get  there  to-night,  or  anyhow,  not  until  late, 
and  they  are  traveling  alone.  They  expect 
to  be  met  at  Pocono  by — let  me  see — I  have 
his  name  here  somewhere,"  and  he  began 
searching  among  the  papers  in  his  pocket. 
"The  children  are  in  my  charge,"  he  went 
on.  "Their  mother  had  to  go  to  a  hos- 
pital and — " 

"She  did?"  cried  Uncle  Toby  so  sud- 
denly that  the  engineer  and  conductor 
looked  at  him  in  surprise.  "Is  the  name 
of  the  man  who  was  to  meet  these  children 
Mr.  Toby  Bardeen?"  went  on  the  old  sailor. 

"Why,  yes,  that's  his  name.  I  have  it 
here  on  a  piece  of  paper,"  said  the  conductor. 
"But  how  did  you—" 

"Are  those  children  Harry  and  Mary 
Benton?"  went  on  Uncle  Toby. 

"Those  are  their  names,  certainly,"  the 


New  Playmates  95 

conductor  admitted.,  "But  how  in  the 
world—" 

"I'm  Mr.  Toby  Bardeen,"  interrupted 
the  old  sailor.  "Uncle  Toby  is  what  the 
Curlytops  call  me.  I  was  expecting  these 
children,  but  I  had  no  idea  they'd  arrive  so 
soon.  It's  only  by  chance  that  I'm  passing 
this  way.  I  didn't  expect  Mary  and  Harry 
for  nearly  a  week." 

"Well,  the  society  that  gave  them  in  my 
charge,  to  see  that  they  got  safely  to  Pocono 
and  to  Mr.  Bardeen,  told  me  their  mother 
had  to  go  to  the  hospital  sooner  than  she 
expected,"  reported  the  conductor.  "I  was 
going  to  telegraph  you  when  I  got  to  the 
next  station  to  make  sure  you'd  be  on  hand. 
They  said — that  is,  the  lady  of  the  Fresh 
Air  Society  said  she'd  written  you  to 
expect  the  children  earlier." 

"Well,  I  didn't  get  the  letter,  because  I 
left  home  to  go  to  visit  the  Curlytops,"  said 
Uncle  Toby.  "However,  it's  all  right  now. 
I'll  take  the  children  right  into  the  auto 
with  me  and  soon  have  them  home.  It's 
lucky  I  met  you." 

"Very  lucky,  indeed!"  agreed  the  con- 
ductor. "Ill  go  back  and  get  the  children 


96       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

ready  for  you.  Poor  little  things,  they're 
quite  sad  and  forlorn.  Their  father  was 
killed  in  the  war,  I  understand." 

1  'Yes,"  agreed  Uncle  Toby.  "At  least 
he's  missing,  and  I  guess  he  must  be  killed 
or  they'd  have  heard  something  from  him 
by  this  time.  However,  I'll  take  charge  of 
the  children.  I  used  to  know  their  mother 
many  years  ago,  but  I  haven't  seen  her  for 
some  time." 

"If  you'll  drive  along  the  road,  around 
the  cut,  to  the  rear  of  the  train,  the  snow 
won't  be  so  deep  for  the  children,"  said  the 
engineer.  "I'll  help  you  carry  them  out," 
he  added  to  the  conductor. 

The  rocky  cut,  in  which  the  train  was 
stuck  in  the  snow  drift,  was  about  twice  as 
long  as  the  engine  and  cars,  and  in  front  of 
the  cut,  as  well  as  behind  it,  the  snow  was 
not  very  deep,  though  it  was  getting  deeper 
all  the  while  as  the  white  flakes  came  sifting 
down  faster. 

Uncle  Toby  started  the  automobile  again, 
going  to  the  rear  of  the  train,  as  near  to  it  as 
he  could  get.  A  little  later  the  conductor 
and  engineer  came  tramping  through  the 
drifts,  each  man  carrying  a  child,  the  con- 
ductor with  the  girl  and  the  engineer  with 


New  Playmates  97 

the  boy.  The  children  were  so  wrapped  up 
in  shawls  that  it  could  scarcely  be  told 
which  was  the  boy  and  which  was  the  girl. 

" There  you  are,  my  dear!"  said  the  con- 
ductor, as  he  set  his  passenger  down  inside 
the  automobile. 

"And  one  more!"  added  the  kind-faced 
but  grimy  engineer,  putting  the  little  boy 
in  next  to  his  sister. 

"Is  this  Pocono?"  the  boy  asked  freeing 
himself  from  the  shawl  that  wrapped  him. 
"The  lady  said  we  weren't  to  get  out  except 
at  Pocono." 

"And  we  want  Uncle  Toby,"  added  the 
girl. 

"Bless  your  hearts,  I'm  Uncle  Toby!" 
cried  Mr.  Bardeen.  i  *  This  isn  't  exactly  Po- 
cono, but  you'd  never  get  there  to-night  if 
you  stayed  on  that  train.  I'm  going  to  take 
you  off  and  drive  you  to  my  home  in  Pocono 
in  this  auto.  See,  here  are  the  Curlytops 
and  some  other  playmates  for  you,"  for  now 
the  two  strangers  could  see  the  Curlytops 
and  their  friends,  Tom  and  Lola. 

"Curlytops!"  exclaimed  Harry  Benton, 
wonderingly. 

"It's  on  account  of  our  hair,"  explained 
Ted,  taking  off  his  cap. 


98       The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

'  *  Oh,  I  see ! "  laughed  Mary.  "  It 's  lovely 
hair!  I  wish  mine  curled." 

"I'm  glad  mine  doesn't,"  her  brother  ex- 
claimed. "It's  too  hard  to  comb." 

"It  is  hard,"  admitted  Jan,  while  Trouble 
stared  open-mouthed  at  the  new  play- 
mates. 

"Is  he  a  Curlytop,  too?"  asked  Mary, 
looking  at  Baby  William. 

"He  belongs  to  the  family,  but  his  hair 
doesn't  curl,"  said  Uncle  Toby,  with  a  laugh. 
"But  now  that  I  have  you  children  safe  in 
here  I'd  better  be  going,"  he  added.  "I'll 
tell  the  telegraph  operator  to  send  you  help 
as  soon  as  he  can,"  he  added  to  the  engineer 
and  the  conductor,  who  started  back  to  the 
stalled  train. 

"Please  do,"  begged  the  conductor. 
"We'd  like  to  get  dug  out  of  here  before 
night." 

"Isn't  it  lovely  in  here,  Harry?"  asked 
Mary  Benton,  looking  around  inside  the 
comfortable  automobile. 

"I  should  say  so!"  he  exclaimed.  "I 
never  was  in  a  car  like  this  before." 

The  two  children  were  poor — one  need 
but  look  at  their  clothes  to  see  this.  But 
they  were  clean  and  neat. 


New  Playmates  99 

"And,  oh,  look!    A  dog!"  cried  Harry. 

"That's  Skyrocket!  He  likes  you,"  said 
Ted,  for  the  dog,  after  sniffing  at  the  two 
new  playmates,  wagged  his  tail  in  friendly 
fashion. 

"I  like  him!"  said  Harry. 

"And,  oh,  look  at  the  kitten!"  cried 
Mary,  reaching  her  hand  down  to  pat  the 
little  bunch  of  fur  that  was  purring  on  the 
seat  between  Lola  and  Jan. 

"Uncle  Toby  just  found  it  in  the  woods," 
Jan  explained. 

"What's  it's  name?"  asked  Mary. 

"We  haven't  named  it  yet,"  Ted 
answered.  "Skyrocket  saw  it  up  a  tree 
and  barked." 

"I  think  Fluff  would  be  a  nice  name  for 
the  pussy, ' '  said  Mary.  * i  He 's  such  a  fluffy 
ball  of  fur." 

"Oh,  that  would  be  a  lovely  name!"  cried 
Lola.  "Why  don't  you  call  it  that  1" 

"I  guess  we  will.  You  may  name  the 
kitten  Fluff,  Mary,  and  it'll  be  part  your 
cat." 

"Oh,  how  nice !"  murmured  the  poor  little 
girl.  "I  never  had  even  part  of  a  cat  be- 
fore." 

"Uncle  Toby  has  a  cat  and  his  name  is 


100     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

Snuff! "  said  Trouble.  "An'  he's  got  a 
monkey  and  a  parrot!" 

Mary  and  Harry  looked  as  though  they 
did  not  know  whether  or  not  to  believe  this. 
Seeing  the  doubt  on  their  faces  Ted  ex- 
claimed : 

"That's  right!  Uncle  Toby  has  a  lot  of 
pets  out  at  his  place,  and  we're  going  to  take 
them  to  Crystal  Lake  with  us,  aren't  we, 
Uncle  TobyV' 

"Oh,  I  guess  if  we  take  your  dog  that  will 
be  enough,"  chuckled  the  old  sailor.  "The 
others  will  be  better  off  in  Pocono.  But 
you'll  have  a  chance  to  see  them,"  he  added 
to  the  new  children,  noticing  how  disap- 
pointed they  looked.  Then  Harry  and 
Mary  smiled. 

"Well,  I  must  be  getting  on  if  I'm  going 
to  send  help  to  the  people  on  the  stalled 
train,"  remarked  Uncle  Toby,  as  he  turned 
the  automobile  around.  "And  then  we'll  go 
on  to  Pocono.  Aunt  Sallie  will  be  getting 
anxious  about  us." 

"Is  Aunt  Sallie  a  monkey  or  a  parrot?" 
Harry  asked. 

"Neither  one!"  answered  Uncle  Toby, 
with  a  laugh,  in  which  the  Curlytops  joined. 


New  Playmates  101 

" She's  my  housekeeper;  and  she'll  go  with 
us  to  Crystal  Lake  for  the  holidays." 

"What  will  you  do  with  your  pets?" 
asked  Ted. 

"I'll  get  some  one  to  look  after  them.  I 
haven't  as  many  as  when  you  Curlytops 
played  circus  with  them.  But  there's 
enough.  Too  many,  so  Aunt  Sallie  thinks." 

It  was  not  a  very  long  ride  to  the  station 
from  where  word  could  be  sent  that  help  was 
needed  by  the  stalled  train.  The  agent 
promised  to  telegraph  for  snow  shovelers  at 
once. 

Uncle  Toby  was  about  to  drive  on  again 
when  Janet  stopped  him  by  saying : 

"Maybe  the  station  agent  could  give  us  a 
little  milk  for  the  pussy." 

"Maybe  he  could,"  agreed  the  old  sailor. 
"I'll  ask  him." 

As  it  happened,  the  agent  kept  a  cat  in  the 
station  on  account  of  the  mice,  and  that  day 
lie  had  brought  a  little  milk  for  his  pet—- 
more milk  than  Choo-Choo,  as  he  called  his 
cat,  wanted. 

"I'll  give  you  some  for  your  pussy,"  said 
the  agent,  after  he  had  telegraphed  for  the 
snow  shovelers. 


102     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

I  wish  you  could  have  seen  Fluff  lap  up 
the  milk,  which  was  warmed  for  him  and  put 
in  a  saucer  on  the  floor  of  the  automobile. 
He  was  hungry — was  the  little  stray  kitten 
that  had  come  down  out  of  the  evergreen 
tree —  and  his  little  sides  seemed  to  swell  out 
like  balloons  as  he  lapped  up  every  drop  of 
milk. 

"I  hope  your  cat  Choo-Choo  won't  get 
hungry,'7  said  Jan,  as  the  last  of  the  milk 
disappeared. 

"I  can  get  him  some  more,"  said  the 
agent.  "Anyhow,  he  isn't  as  hungry  as 
your  pussy  was." 

" Good-bye!"  called  Uncle  Toby,  as  he 
started  off  once  more.  "I  hope  the  stalled 
passengers  will  soon  be  shoveled  out." 

"I  guess  they  will  be,"  the  agent  said. 

It  was  almost  dark  when  the  big  automo- 
bile reached  the  village  of  Pocono  where 
Uncle  Toby  lived. 

"Now  we'll  soon  be  snug  and  warm,"  he 
told  the  children.  "I  have  more  of  a  load 
than  when  I  started,  but  I'm  glad  I  found 
you  two,"  he  said  to  Mary  and  Harry. 
'You're  going  to  have  a  good  time  with  my 
Curlytops." 

Harry  and  Mary,  who  had  never  had 


New  Playmates  103 

much  of  a  good  time  in  all  their  lives,  were 
beginning  to  be  happy.  They  had  been  very 
small  when  their  father  went  off  to  war — 
they  hardly  remembered  him,  in  fact.  Mr. 
Benton  need  not  have  gone,  had  he  wished 
to  stay  at  home,  for  he  could  have  been  ex- 
cused, or  have  done  some  other  war  work 
than  fighting.  But  he  was  a  brave  man  and 
wanted  to  do  his  best  for  his  country.  So 
he  had  gone  to  France.  After  awhile  he 
was  missing,  and  though  his  wife  was  helped 
by  her  friends  and  by  the  government,  still 
she  had  hard  work  to  get  along  and  there 
was  not  much  money  with  which  to  give 
Mary  and  Harry  good  times.  But  happier 
days  were  ahead  of  them. 

"There's  Uncle  Toby's  house!"  cried 
Ted,  as  the  automobile  turned  into  the  drive- 
way. 

"Oh,  but  something  has  happened!"  ex- 
claimed Jan.  "Look!  There's  a  crowd  out 
in  front!" 

And  surely  enough,  a  throng  of  people 
could  be  seen  standing  in  the  dusk  and  storm 
in  front  of  Uncle  Toby's  home. 


CHAPTER  X 

AMONG  THE  PETS 

As  the  automobile  driven  by  Uncle  Toby 
and  containing  the  Curlytops  and  their 
playmates  came  to  a  stop  near  the  side  en- 
trance to  Mr.  Bardeen's  house,  the  door 
opened,  letting  out  a  stream  of  light  on  the 
white  snow. 

"Is  that  the  police?"  asked  a  voice  which 
Ted  remembered  as  that  of  Mrs.  Watson,  or 
"  Aunt  Sallie,"  as  Uncle  Toby  called  her. 

"No,  this  isn't  the  police, "  Uncle  Toby 
answered,  through  the  half-opened  door  of 
the  car  that  Ted  had  unlatched,  ready  to 
leap  out. 

Aunt  Sallie  did  not  seem  to  know  Uncle 
Toby's  voice,  for  she  asked  another  ques- 
tion. 

"Is  it  the  firemen  then?" 

"Good  gracious!"  cried  Uncle  Toby, 
opening  the  automobile  door  wider,  so  that 
a  swirl  of  snow  drifted  in.  "What  in  the 

104 


Among  the  Pets  105 

world  is  the  matter  1  Why  do  you  want  the 
firemen  and  policemen,  Aunt  Sallie? " 

"Oh,  thank  goodness!  It's  you,  is  it, 
Uncle  Toby?" 

"Yes!  Yes!"  was  the  quick  answer. 
"You  stay  in  the  car  a  moment,  children," 
said  Mr.  Bardeen,  as  he  got  out  on  the  side 
of  the  steering  wheel.  "Something  must 
have  happened.  I'll  see  what  it  is." 

Just  then  the  crowd,  which  stood  partly 
in  the  street  and  partly  in  the  yard  of  Uncle 
Toby's  house,  but  up  at  the  farther  end, 
away  from  the  driveway,  gave  a  shout. 

"There  he  goes!"  cried  several  voices. 

"What  can  have  happened?"  exclaimed 
Janet,  greatly  excited. 

"It's  a  fire,  I  guess,"  said  Ted.  "Aunt 
Sallie  was  asking  for  the  firemen." 

"And  she  asked  for  the  policemen,  too," 
said  Tom.  "Maybe  it's  a  burglar  up  on  the 
roof." 

"That's  right !"  chimed  in  Harry,  the  new 
boy.  "And  maybe  he's  trying  to  go  down 
the  chimney." 

"Like  Santa  Claus,"  added  his  sister 
Mary,  whom  Jan  and  Lola  had  begun  to  like 
very  much. 

"I   want    to   see    Santa    C'aus!"    cried 


106     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

Trouble,  and  he  made  a  wiggle  to  get  out  of 
the  open  door  by  which  Uncle  Toby  had 
left. 

"No !  No !' '  cried  Ted,  catching  hold  of  his 
little  brother. 

"Something  has  happened,  anyhow,"  de- 
cided Tom.  "This  crowd  wouldn't  be  here 
for  nothing.  But  I  don't  believe  it's  a  fire, 
for  there  isn't  any  smoke.  I  guess  the 
reason  Aunt  Sallie  wanted  the  firemen  was 
because  they  have  ladders  to  get  somebody 
down  off  the  roof." 

"Who  could  be  up  on  the  roof?"  Jan 
wanted  to  know. 

No  one  answered,  but  as  both  front  doors 
of  the  closed  automobile  were  now  open  the 
children  could  hear  what  Uncle  Toby  and 
Aunt  Sallie  were  saying. 

"What  in  the  world  has  happened?" 
asked  Uncle  Toby. 

"It's  Jack,  your  monkey,"  was  the  an- 
swer. "He  got  loose  a  little  while  ago  and 
scrambled  up  on  the  roof.  He's  perched 
there  now,  near  the  chimney.  First  I  knew 
of  it  was  when  I  saw  a  lot  of  boys  in  front 
of  the  house,  looking  up.  I  thought  the 
chimney  was  on  fire." 


Among  the  Pets  107 

"Was  that  why  you  wanted  the  firemen?" 
asked  Uncle  Toby. 

" Partly, "  answered  Aunt  Sallie.  "I 
telephoned  for  the  fire  department,  and 
when  I  heard  your  automobile  in  the  side 
yard  I  thought  it  was  the  firemen." 

"But  why  did  you  send  for  the  firemen 
when  you  found  out  the  chimney  wasn't 
burning?"  Uncle  Toby  asked. 

"I  thought  they  could  get  the  monkey 
down  with  ladders,"  was  the  housekeeper's 
reply. 

"Then  why  did  you  send  for  the  police?" 
went  on  Uncle  Toby. 

"To  keep  the  crowd  in  order,"  sighed 
Aunt  Sallie.  "Oh,  I've  had  such  a  time! 
Some  of  the  boys  cut  up  so,  and  threw  snow- 
balls at  Jack." 

"My  goodness!  That's  so,  it  is  snow- 
ing!" cried  Uncle  Toby,  as  if,  for  the  time, 
he  had  forgotten  all  about  it.  "Poor  Jack 
will  catch  his  death  of  cold  up  there  on  the 
roof  in  the  storm.  How  did  he  get  out? 
Never  mind;  don't  tell  me  now!  I  must 
get  him  down  before  he  gets  pneumonia. 
Monkeys  are  very  likely  to  get  that  if  they 
get  a  chill." 


108     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

"I  don't  believe  he'll  get  cold,"  said 
Aunt  Sallie.  " He  has  a  coat  on." 

"A  coat  on?    Whose  coat?" 

"One  of  your  old  ones,"  answered  Aunt 
Sallie.  "He  grabbed  it  up  off  the  rack  as 
he  scrambled  out  of  the  window  and  climbed 
the  rain-water  pipe  to  the  roof.  If  any  one 
can  get  him  down,  you  can,  Uncle  Toby." 

"Yes,  I  guess  I  can.  Jack  always  minds 
me.  But  it's  hard  to  see  him  in  the 
dark." 

"Oh,  the  electric  light  in  front  shines 
right  on  the  roof,"  replied  Aunt  Sallie. 
"And  as  the  roof  is  white  with  snow, 
Jack  shows  quite  plain.  Do  get  him  down 
so  the  crowd  will  go  away." 

"Are  the  rest  of  the  pets  all  right  ?"  asked 
Mr.  Bardeen. 

"Yes,"  said  Aunt  Sallie,  and  the  listening 
children  were  glad  to  hear  this. 

"Come  on  in,  Curlytops!"  called  Uncle 
Toby  from  the  side  porch.  "There  isn't 
anything  serious  the  matter.  Jack  has  just 
gotten  up  on  the  roof,  that's  all.  It  isn't 
the  first  time,  for  he  often  does  it  in  sum- 
mer, but  I  never  knew  him  to  go  out  in  the 
cold  before.  I  guess  he  wants  to  show  that 
he'd  be  all  right  for  taking  out  to  Crystal 


Among  the  Pets  109 

Lake,  but  I'm  not  going  to  humor  him. 
Come  on  in  Curlytops  and  the  rest  of  you 
children!" 

Out  of  the  car  scrambled  the  children, 
eager  to  see  and  hear  all  that  was  going  on. 
They  had  hardly  more  than  reached  the 
porch  than  out  in  front  of  Uncle  Toby's 
house  sounded  a  rapidly  clanging  bell. 

"Oh,  here  comes  firemans!  Here  comes 
firemans!"  shouted  Trouble,  jumping  up 
and  down  in  delight. 

And,  surely  enough,  in  the  electrically 
lighted  street  could  be  seen  the  glittering 
fire  engine  and  the  hook  and  ladder  truck, 
with  prancing  horses  which  seemed  to  de- 
light being  out  in  the  storm. 

There  was  a  roaring  murmur  from  the 
crowd,  and  Uncle  Toby  looked  at  Aunt 
Sallie  and  shook  his  head. 

"You  surely  have  caused  some  excitement 
around  here/'  he  said,  but  he  could  not 
help  laughing. 

"I  go  see  fire  engines!"  cried  Trouble. 
"I  go!" 

"You'll  stay  right  here  with  me!"  de- 
clared Jan,  taking  a  firm  hold  of  her  little 
brother's  arm. 

"No!    Don't  want  to!"  shouted  Trouble. 


110     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

" Wants  go  see  fire  engines!    I  'ikes  fire 
engines!" 

He  squirmed  and  struggled  so  that  it 
seemed  as  if  he  would  break  away  from 
Janet.  Uncle  Toby  and  Aunt  Sallie  had 
gone  around  to  the  front  of  the  house  to 
meet  some  of  the  firemen  who  were  asking 
where  the  blaze  was  as  they  did  not  see  any 
smoke. 

"Be  good,  Trouble!"  begged  Lola,  trying 
to  help  Janet  manage  the  little  fellow,  who 
was  tired  and  cross  from  the  long  day's  ride. 

"Want  to  see  fire  engines!"  he  insisted, 
for  the  engine  and  truck  were  now  out  of 
view  from  the  side  porch,  having  drawn  up 
farther  along  the  street. 

"Oh,  maybe  the  police  wagon  will  come 
and  you  can  see  it  from  here,"  added  Mary, 
trying  to  do  her  best  to  aid  in  soothing 
William. 

This  seemed  to  quiet  him  at  once.  He 
was  just  a  little  afraid  of  a  policeman. 

And,  surely  enough,  just  then  the  police 
patrol  wagon,  with  its  clanging  bell,  not 
quite  as  loud  as  the  fire  engine,  though,  came 
up  and  a  number  of  officers  jumped  out. 
There  was  another  roar  from  the  crowd  as 
this  added  excitement  was  provided. 


Among  the  Pets  111 

Never  had  there  been  such  an  evening  in 
Poeono,  with  the  big  storm  getting  worse 
all  the  while. 

But  Uncle  Toby  took  charge  of  matters. 
He  explained  to  the  police  and  the  firemen 
what  had  happened — that  Aunt  Sallie  had 
become  so  excited  she  had  summoned 
more  help  than  she  had  really  needed. 

"But  is  there  really  a  monkey  up  on  the 
roof?"  asked  a  policeman. 

"Yes,  my  monkey  Jack  is  up  there  near 
the  chimney,"  said  Mr.  Bardeen.  "You 
can  see  him.  He's  got  on  one  of  my  coats." 

Without  a  doubt  there  was  Jack,  sitting 
on  the  ridge  of  the  roof,  one  hairy  paw 
thrust  through  an  arm  of  the  coat,  clinging 
to  the  bricks  of  the  chimney. 

"I'd  like  to  get  him  down,"  said  Uncle 
Toby,  "for  he  is  a  valuable  animal,  and  he 
may  take  cold  and  get  pneumonia  even  if 
he  has  on  a  coat." 

"Well,  we're  the  boys  to  get  him  down," 
laughed  one  of  the  firemen.  "But  will  he 
bite?"  he  asked  anxiously.  "I  don't  know 
much  about  monkeys,  but  I  guess  they  can 
bite." 

"Jack  won't;  that  is,  not  after  I  speak  to 
him,"  said  Uncle  Toby.  "I'll  call  him  to 


112     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

come  down,  and  you  can  go  up  on  a  ladder 
and  get  him  if  you  will." 

"Oh,  we'll  do  it  all  right,"  said  the  fire- 
man. He  and  the  police  officers  knew  and 
liked  Uncle  Toby. 

Shortly  afterward  a  ladder  was  raised  to 
the  roof,  and  a  fireman  went  up.  He  had  to 
be  careful  on  the  sloping  roof,  on  account 
of  the  slippery  snow  that  covered  it.  But 
another  ladder,  laid  on  the  shingles,  gave 
him  a  firm  footing. 

Nearer  and  nearer  he  crawled  to  the 
crouching  monkey.  The  crowd,  which  had 
been  laughing  and  joking,  kept  quiet  now 
so  Uncle  Toby  could  talk  to  Jack. 

"Come  on  down,  old  fellow  1  Let  the  fire- 
man bring  you  down.  And  don 't  bite  him ! ' ' 
called  Uncle  Toby  to  his  pet. 

Jack  seemed  to  understand.  He  chat- 
tered a  little,  and  then,  when  the  fireman 
was  near  enough,  the  monkey  put  his  arms 
around  the  man's  neck  and  clung  tightly. 

"Now  you're  all  right,  old  chap!"  said 
the  fireman,  who  was  fond  of  animals. 
"IVe  got  you!" 

A  little  later  man  and  monkey  were  safe 
on  the  ground,  while  the  crowd  cheered. 
Uncle  Toby  took  Jack  from  the  fireman, 


Among  the  Pets  113 

and  the  monkey  nestled  in  his  master's  arms, 
seemingly  very  glad  to  be  down  off  the  roof 
and  out  of  the  storm. 

"I  must  get  him  some  hot  milk  to  drink," 
said  Uncle  Toby,  as  the  firemen  and  police 
started  back  to  their  quarters.  The  crowd, 
seeing  that  there  was  to  be  no  more  excite- 
ment, melted  away  out  of  the  storm. 

"Come,  Curlytops,  get  in  the  house!  All 
of  you  get  in  the  house  out  of  the  storm!" 
cried  Uncle  Toby,  for  the  children  had  gone 
around  to  the  front  to  watch  the  rescue  of 
Jack. 

"Yes,  yes!  Come  in!"  cried  Aunt  Sallie. 
"You'll  all  get  your  deaths  of  sneezes! 
Talk  about  hot  milk  for  a  monkey !  I  guess 
these  children  need  it  more  than  Jack 
does!" 

"We'll  all  have  some  hot  milk!"  declared 
Uncle  Toby.  "Here,  Aunt  Sallie,  you  look 
after  the  Curlytops  and  their  friends  while 
I  put  the  car  away,  and  then  I'll  come  back 
and  we'll  have  a  cozy  supper,"  went  on  Mr. 
Bardeen.  "  I  '11  put  Jack  by  the  fire  to  thaw 
him  out. ' ' 

"I'm  hungry!"  announced  Trouble. 

"Bless  your  heart!  you  shall  have  some- 
thing to  eat  as  soon  as  I  can  get  it  on  the 


114     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

table,"  said  Aunt  Sallie.     "That  bad  old 
Jack  made  a  lot  of  work!'* 

She  shook  a  finger  at  the  monkey,  who 
whimpered  a  little. 

"Oh,  don't  scold  him!"  begged  Lola. 

"Will  he  do  tricks?"  asked  Tom. 

"He's  done  enough  tricks  for  one  night," 
replied  Aunt  Sallie,  as  she  bustled  about  to 
get  supper,  while  Uncle  Toby  put  the  car 
out  of  the  storm. 

"Take  off  your  hat,  Mary,"  suggested 
Jan  to  the  new  girl,  who  stood  about  a  bit 
shyly. 

Before  the  little  girl  could  do  this  her 
hat  was  suddenly  snatched  from  her  head, 
and  a  harsh  voice  cried : 

"Eat  'em  up!  Eat  'em  up!  Eat  'em  all 
up!" 

"Oh!  Oh!"  screamed  Mary.  "What  is 
it?" 

"Don't  be  afraid !"  laughed  Ted.   "You're 
just  among  Uncle  Toby's  pets!" 


CHAPTER  XI 

WHERE  DID  TROUBLE  GO? 

MARY  BENTON,  the  little  girl  whose  father 
had  gone  to  the  Big  War  and  had  never 
been  heard  of  since,  was  really  frightened 
by  the  screeching  voice  and  by  feeling  her 
hat  snatched  off  in  that  strange  way.  Even 
what  Ted  said  about  being  among  Uncle 
Toby's  pets  did  not  seem  to  make  her  feel 
any  better. 

She  turned  quickly  around,  and  saw  her 
hat  that  had  been  snatched  off  in  the  black 
beak  of  a  big  red  and  green  bird  which  was 
perched  on  the  back  of  a  chair. 

"Dat's  Mr.  Nip!"  announced  Trouble. 
He  knew  the  parrot  from  the  previous  sum- 
mer. 

"Eat  'em  up!  Eat  'em  up!  Eat  'em  all 
up!"  croaked  Mr.  Nip  in  his  harsh  voice. 

"Well,  please  don't  eat  Mary's  hat  up!" 
laughed  Jan.  ' '  She  '11  want  it  to  wear  when 
we  go  to  Crystal  Lake." 

115 


116    The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

"Is  that  parrot  going  to  the  Lake  with 
us? "  asked  Lola. 

"If  he  does  I'll  have  to  be  careful  of  my 
hat,"  added  Mary,  who  was  getting  over  her 
fright.  "It's  a  new  one/'  she  went  on,  and 
the  other  girls  rightly  guessed  that,  being 
very  poor,  Mary  did  not  have  many  hats. 
Then  and  there  Lola  and  Jan  made  up  their 
minds  to  be  kind  to  Mary,  whose  mother 
was  in  the  hospital  and  whose  father — well, 
no  one  knew  what  had  happened  to  him. 

"Here  are  some  more  pets!"  cried  jolly 
Uncle  Toby,  as  he  came  in  out  of  the  storm, 
having  put  the  car  in  his  barn.  He  was 
followed  by  Skyrocket,  who  barked  and 
leaped  about,  shaking  snow-flakes  all  about. 
In  his  arms  Uncle  Toby  carried  Fluff,  the 
little  kitten  that  had  been  rescued  from  a 
"Ch'is'mus  tree,"  as  Trouble  called  the 
evergreen. 

"Oh,  we  forgot  all  about  him!"  exclaimed 
Jan,  as  she  took  the  little  stranger  from 
Uncle  Toby. 

"It  wouldn't  be  wonderful  if  you  forgot 
even  your  names,"  latighed  Uncle  Toby, 
"considering  all  the  excitement  that  was 
going  on  when  we  got  here.  But  we're  all 
right  now,  I  guess." 


SHE  TURNED  AND  SAW  HER  HAT  IN  THE  BEAK  OF  A  BIG  RED 

AND  GREEN  BIRD. 
"The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates"  Page  115 


Where  Did  Trouble  Go?  117 

Skyrocket  went  over  to  sniff  around  Jack, 
the  monkey,  with  which  pet  the  Curlytops' 
dog  was  well  acquainted,  so  the  two  soon 
became  friendly. 

"I  guess  he  misses  Tip  and  Top," 
observed  Ted,  speaking  of  the  two  valuable 
trick  poodles,  which  had  been  sold  since  the 
children  found  them  in  the  show,  after  they 
had  been  stolen. 

"Well,  there  are  plenty  of  other  animals," 
said  Aunt  Sallie,  as  she  finished  setting  the 
table  and  called  to  the  children  to  take  their 
places. 

Such  a  jolly  time  as  followed!  The 
Curlytops  and  their  playmates,  the  new  as 
well  as  the  old  ones,  were  all  hungry  from 
their  ride  through  the  cold.  Even  Trouble 
forgot  about  being  sleepy  while  he  ate,  and 
if  Mary  and  Harry  remembered  about  their 
mother  in  the  hospital  that  thought  did  not 
chase  away  the  smiles  from  their  faces. 

At  times,  on  the  trip,  Ted  and  Jan  had 
given  some  thought  to  matters  at  home,  and 
had  wondered  if  Daddy  Martin  would  lose 
so  much  money  as  to  make  the  family  poor. 
But  now  Ted  and  his  sister  were  having  a 
good  time  with  the  others. 

Jack,  the  monkey,  seemed  to  have  gotten 


118     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

over  the  slight  shivering  caused  by  foolishly 
going  up  on  the  roof  in  the  storm,  and  he 
and  Skyrocket  ate  their  meal  behind  the 
warm  stove  on  one  side,  while  Snuff,  Uncle 
Toby's  big  cat,  and  Fluff,  the  new  kitten, 
lapped  warm  milk  from  the  same  saucer  on 
the  other  side  of  the  stove. 

As  for  Mr.  Nip,  the  parrot,  he  seemed 
satisfied  after  he  had  pulled  off  Mary's  hat, 
and  he  was  now  asleep  with  his  head  under 
his  wing,  perched  on  his  stand  in  one  corner. 

"How  did  Jack  get  out,  Aunt  Sallie?" 
asked  Uncle  Toby,  as  knives  and  forks  be- 
gan to  slow  up  a  little  in  the  supper  race, 
the  children  becoming  less  hungry  the 
more  they  ate. 

"I  had  left  a  window  open,  and  he  seemed 
to  know  it,"  was  the  answer.  "I  never 
knew  it  to  fail  that  if  I  left  a  window  open 
so  much  as  a  crack  but  what  he'd  find  it. 
He's  the  smartest  monkey  I  ever  saw !  But 
he's  a  rascal  just  the  same!" 

"Well,  you'll  have  a  little  rest  from  all 
the  pets,  except  maybe  Skyrocket,"  said 
Uncle  Toby.  "We'll  take  him  with  us  out 
to  Crystal  Lake,  but  the  other  pets  we'll 
leave  here." 

Uncle  Toby's  house  was  a  large  one  and 


Where  Did  Trouble  Go?          119 

had  plenty  of  beds  in  it  for  the  children. 
It  was  warm  and  cozy,  and  Aunt  Sallie 
had  seen  to  it  that  everything  should  he 
comfortable  for  the  Curlytops  and  their 
playmates. 

"I  thought  you  two  were  coming  by 
train^"  she  said  to  Mary  and  Harry,  when 
supper  was  over  and  the  plans  for  the  night 
began  to  be  talked  about. 

4  i  They  were  on  the  train.  But  I  took  them 
off  when  it  became  stuck  in  the  snow,"  ex- 
plained Uncle  Toby.  "I  hope  they*  have 
dug  the  engine  out  by  this  time.  If  they 
haven't  it  may  have  to  stay  there  a  long 
time,  for  this  storm  is  getting  worse. " 

The  children  thought  so  too,  as  they  lis- 
tened to  the  wind  howling  around  the  cor- 
ners of  the  house  and  down  the  chimney, 
while  the  hard  flakes  of  snow  beat  against 
the  windows. 

But  they  were  snug  and  warm  in  Uncle 
Toby's  house,  and  Jan  and  her  brother,  with 
Lola  and  Tom,  were  so  jolly,  suggesting  so 
many  games  to  play  and  talking  about  the 
good  times  to  come  at  Crystal  Lake,  that 
though  Mary  and  Harry  had  begun  to  feel 
homesick  this  soon  wore  off,  and  the  strange 
playmates  laughed  with  their  new  friends. 


120    The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

Trouble  was  to  sleep  in  a  big  bed  with 
Jan  in  a  room  next  to  Aunt  Sallie.  And  in 
the  same  room  with  Jan  and  her  little 
brother,  Mary  and  Lola  would  sleep,  but 
in  separate  beds. 

The  three  older  boys  had  a  room  to  them- 
selves, each  with  a  single  bed,  so  they  would 
not  disturb  one  another. 

"And  mind!"  cried  Uncle  Toby,  when  the 
time  came  to  "turn  in,"  as  a  soldier  or  a 
sailor  might  say.  "Mind!  No  pillow 
fights!" 

"Oh,  no!"  cried  Tom  and  Ted,  winking 
at  each  other. 

And  I  think  Uncle  Toby  must  have  known 
that  they  would  have  a  little  fun  in  this  way. 
For  he  did  not  come  up  to  stop  them  when 
they  began  tossing  about  at  each  other  the 
soft,  fluffy  pillows.  At  this  game  there  was 
a  jolly  good  time  for  half  an  hour. 

But  even  boys  can  get  tired  sometimes, 
and  these  boys  had  had  a  long  automobile 
ride  that  day.  So  they  finally  gave  up  tos- 
sing the  pillows  about  and  settled  down 
snugly  in  their  beds.  The  girls  and  Trouble 
had  gone  to  sleep  long  before  this. 

"Well,  you  certainly  have  quite  a  house- 
ful, Uncle  Toby,"  said  Aunt  SaUie  that 


Where  Did  Trouble  Go?  121 

night,  when  locking-up  time  came,  "with 
seven  children,  to  say  nothing  of  the  ani- 
mals." 

"Oh,  I  like  'em  all!"  exclaimed  the  old 
sailor,  with  a  laugh.  "And  I  just  had  to 
take  the  Curlytops.  There  was  no  place  for 
them  to  go  when  their  father  and  mother 
had  to  start  off  on  that  trip.  As  for  Tom 
and  Lola,  I  wanted  the  Curlytops  to  have 
some  playmates  over  the  holidays.  And 
about  Mary  and  Harry — well,  I  couldn't 
leave  them  in  the  big  city  all  alone,  with 
their  mother  in  the  hospital." 

"No,  I  suppose  not.  Poor  children! 
Poor  Mother!  I  hope  she  gets  better!" 

6  i  I  hope  so,  too, ' '  said  Uncle  Toby.  1 1  And 
I  hope  the  Curlytops'  father  doesn't  lose 
his  money." 

Janet  was  awakened  early  the  next  morn- 
ing by  feeling  something  cold  on  her  face. 
She  was  dreaming  that  Jack,  the  monkey, 
was  still  up  on  the  roof,  but  that  he  had  a 
long  tail  which  reached  all  the  way  to  the 
ground.  And  she  dreamed  that  Jack  was 
dipping  his  tail  in  ice  water  and  tickling  her 
on  the  cheek. 

Something  almost  like  this  was  happen- 
ing as  Janet  opened  her  eyes1,  for  she  saw 


122     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

Trouble  bending  over  her  with  a  lump  of 
snow  in  his  fist,  rubbing  the  cold  stuff  on 
her  nose. 

"Oh,  Trouble!  Stop  it!"  cried  Janet, 
rolling  over  in  bed  and  giving  her  brother 
a  little  push.  He  dropped  some  of  the  cold 
snow  down  her  neck.  * '  Oh ! ' '  screamed  Jan. 
"You're  freezing  me!" 

"You  shouldn't  have  jiggled  me!"  com- 
plained Trouble,  whose  grasp  on  the  snow- 
ball had  been  loosened  as  his  sister  moved. 
"I  wanted  you  open  your  eyes,"  he  added. 

"I  guess  you  made  her  open  them  all 
right,"  laughed  Lola  from  her  bed,  next  to 
Janet's. 

The  talking  aroused  Mary,  who  sat  up, 
rubbing  her  eyes. 

"Oh,  where  am  I?"  she  exclaimed.  "I 
— Oh,  I  remember!"  she  said.  "'I  was 
dreaming  I  was  back  home!" 

"And  I  was  dreaming  Jack  was  slapping 
me  with  his  tail  wet  in  ice  water,"  laughed 
Janet.  "Then  I  wake  up  and  find  Trouble 
with  a  snowball.  Where  did  you  get  it?" 
she  asked,  tossing  the  half -melted  lump  into 
the  water  basin  near  by. 

"It  blowed  in  the  window,"  Trouble  ex- 
plained, pointing  to  more  of  the  white  flakes 


Where  Did  Trouble  Go?  123 

on  the  sill.  They  had  drifted  in  around  a 
crack. 

"You  mustn't  get  out  of  bed  and  run 
around  in  your  bare  feet,"  said  Janet.  "I 
wonder  what  sort  of  a  day  it  is?"  She 
slipped  on  her  little  robe  and  slippers  and 
went  to  the  window,  meanwhile  covering 
Trouble  warmly  in  bed.  "  It 's  stopped  snow- 
ing," she  said,  "and  the  sun  is  out.  We 
can  make  snowmen,  big  snowballs,  and 
everything." 

"Oh,  what  fun  it  will  be!"  cried  Lola. 

"Snow  in  the  country  is  much  nicer  than 
in  the  city  where  I  live,"  said  Mary.  "It 
seems  to  stay  clean  longer  out  here." 

Meanwhile  Ted,  Tom,  and  Harry  had 
also  discovered  that  there  was  a  chance  for 
plenty  of  fun  out  of  doors.  They  were  soon 
up  and  getting  dressed,  and  when  Aunt 
Sallie  had  seen  that  Trouble  was  washed  and 
dressed  all  the  children  went  down  to  break- 
fast. 

"Where  are  all  the  pets$"  asked  Mary, 
seeing  only  Mr.  Nip  perched  on  his  stand, 
cracking  seeds  in  his  strong  beak. 

"They're  having  their  breakfasts  out  in 
their  room,"  said  Aunt  Sallie,  for  a  special 
room  had  been  provided  for  the  animals. 


124    The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

A  little  later  the  Curlytops  and  their  play- 
mates were  having  fun  in  the  snow  outside, 
Skyrocket  romping  around  with  them. 
There  were  sleds  at  Uncle  Toby's  house, 
and  not  far  from  it  a  little  hill,  and  on  this 
the  children  were  soon  coasting. 

"It's  more  fun  than  our  toboggan,"  cried 
Ted. 

"'Yes,  it  is.  But  the  snow  isn't  going 
to  last  long,"  observed  Tom.  "It's  too 
warm." 

"It's  melting  now,"  added  Harry. 

Indeed  the  warm  sun  would  soon  make 
short  work  of  this  first  snow,  which  had 
come  much  earlier  than  usual.  The 
children  made  up  their  minds  to  have  as 
much  fun  as  they  could  while  it  lasted. 

So  they  coasted,  they  made  snowmen, 
rolled  big  snowballs  and  the  boys  even 
started  to  build  a  snow  fort,  for  the  white 
flakes  were  wet  enough  to  pack  well  and  stay 
in  place  once  they  were  piled  up. 

Trouble  played  with  the  others,  sometimes 
getting  in  the  way  and  toppling  down,  to 
pick  himself  up  again  and  fall  down  once 
more. 

"I  havin'  'ots  of  fun!"  he  laughed. 

In  fact  all  the  children  were — so  much 


Where  Did  Trouble  Go?  125 

so  that  they  hardly  wanted  to  come  in  to 
lunch.  But  playing  out  in  the  air  made 
them  hungry,  and  soon  they  were  eagerly 
eating. 

"How  soon  are  we  going  to  Crystal 
Lake?"  asked  Ted  of  Uncle  Toby,  as  the 
Curlytops  and  the  others  prepared  to  rush 
out  in  the  snow  once  more. 

"Oh,  we'll  go  in  a  few  days,"  was  the 
answer.  "Might  as  well  wait  for  this  snow 
to  melt,  as  it's  bound  to  if  this  weather  keeps 
up.  It  will  be  easier  going  for  the  auto 
then,  as  the  roads  to  the  Lake  are  rather 
rough." 

"Well,  we're  having  fun  here,"  chuckled 
Ted,  as  he  ran  out  to  join  his  playmates. 

"Let's  make  a  big  fort!"  proposed  Tom, 
for  they  had  made  a  little  one,  and  trampled 
it  down  in  having  a  "battle." 

"All  right,"  agreed  the  other  boys. 

"I  he'p!"  offered  Trouble. 

"No  you'll  only  be  in  the  way,"  Ted 
replied.  "You  go  over  and  help  sister  make 
a  snowman,"  he  added,  for  this  is  what  Jan 
and  the  other  two  girls  were  trying  to  do. 

This  was  a  bit  selfish  on  Ted's  part,  for 
he  must  have  known  that  Trouble  would 
annoy  his  sister  as  much  as  the  little  fellow 


126     The  Curly  tops  an&  Their  Playmates 

would  be  in  the  way  of  himself  and  his 
chums.  But  brothers  are  this  way  some- 
times, I  suppose. 

Anyhow,  Trouble  toddled  off  to  see  if  he 
could  not  play  with  Jan,  Lola,  and  Mary. 
He  saw  them  shaping  the  snowman. 

"I  he'p!"  he  offered,  trying  to  put  a  little 
ball  on  the  snowman 's  coat  to  serve  as  a 
"button." 

"Oh,  Trouble!  Don't!"  begged  Jan. 
"Go  over  and  play  with  the  boys!  You'll 
spoil  our  snowman!" 

"Ted  telled  me  come  here!"  announced 
William. 

Poor  Trouble!  No  one  seemed  to  want 
him! 

"Oh,  let  him  stay,"  begged  Mary,  "111 
watch  him." 

"All  right,"  sighed  Jan.  She  was  trying 
to  make  the  snowman's  face,  and  it  was  not 
easy  work. 

Just  how  it  happened  no  one  seemed  to 
know  but  the  boys  forgot  all  about  Trouble 
in  the  excitement  of  making  their  fort.  And 
though  Mary  had  promised  to  keep  watch 
over  the  little  fellow  she  forgot  when  she 
went  to  the  shed  to  get  two  pieces  of  coal 
to  make  eyes  for  the  snowman. 


Where  Did  Trouble  Go?  127 

It  was  not  until  after  the  snowman  was 
finished  and  Ted  had  shouted  what  fun  it 
would  be  if  they  could  put  him  in  the  fort 
that  Trouble  was  missed. 

" Where  is  he?"  asked  Janet,  looking 
around  the  yard. 

"He  was  here  a  little  while  -ago,"  said 
Lola. 

"I  saw  him  too,"  added  Tom. 

But  now  Trouble  was  not  in  sight. 

"Maybe  he  went  into  the  house  to  get 
something  to  eat,"  suggested  Mary. 

Jan  ran  to  the  door  and  asked  Aunt 
Sallie. 

1 1  Why,  no, ' '  she  answered.  Trouble  didn  't 
come  in  here!" 

"Oh,  where  can  Trouble  be?"  half  sobbed 
Janet. 


CHAPTER  XII 

OFF  TO  CRYSTAL  LAKE 

THIS  was  not  the  first  time  Trouble  Martin 
had  been  lost  or  missing.  It  happened  more 
or  less  often  at  home  in  Cresco,  and  once 
when  the  Curlytops  had  come  to  Uncle 
Toby's.  But  he  had  never  before  been  lost 
after  a  big  snow  storm — that  is,  as  far  as 
Janet  or  Teddy  could  remember.  What 
Janet  was  afraid  of  was  that  her  little 
brother  might  wander  off  and  fall  into  some 
drift.  For  the  snow  was  deep  in  places 
not  very  far  from  Uncle  Toby's  house. 

"Oh,  we'll  find  him!"  declared  Ted.  "He 
can't  be  far  off.  We  didn't  want  him  play- 
ing around  our  fort  for  fear  he'd  spoil  it." 

"And  I  sent  him  away  from  our  snow- 
man on  the  same  account, ' '  sighed  Janet.  t '  I 
wish  I  had  kept  him  by  me." 

Aunt  Sallie  came  out  of  the  house,  her 
apron  thrown  over  her  head. 

"Did  you  find  Trouble?"  she  asked. 

128 


Off  to  Crystal  Lake  129 

"JSTo'm,"  chorused  the  children. 

"Dear  me!"  exclaimed  the  old  lady. 
"You  must  call  Uncle  Toby  and  tell  him. 
He 's  out  in  the  barn  working  over  the  auto, 
getting  ready  for  the  trip  to  Crystal  Lake. 
Go  tell  him  Trouble  is  missing." 

Janet  and  the  others  thought  this  would 
be  the  best  thing  to  do,  and  Uncle  Toby 
soon  heard  the  latest  happening  regarding 
the  Curlytops. 

"If  Trouble  isn't  in  the  house  nor  around 
where  you  are  playing,  he  must  have  wan- 
dered off  down  the  street,"  said  Uncle  Toby. 
"The  walks  have  been  pretty  well  cleaned 
off  by  this  time.  The  snowplow  has  been 
along."  For  in  Pocono  the  street  cleaning 
department  sent  out  a  big  snowplow,  drawn 
by  horses,  after  every  big  storm,  and  thus 
the  sidewalks  were  made  easy  to  walk  on 
without  waiting  for  each  householder  to 
clean  his  own  space. 

"But  where  would  he  go?"  asked  Janet, 
hardly  able  to  keep  back  her  tears. 

"That's  what  we  must  find  out,"  said 
Uncle  Toby.  "Don't  worry.  We'll  find 
him.  I'll  ask  the  police  if  they've  seen  him. 
A  little  chap  like  Trouble  would  be  sure  to 
be  noticed." 


130     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

"Unless  maybe  he  fell  in  a  snowdrift," 
suggested  Janet. 

"If  he  fell  in  he'd  shout  and  cry  until 
some  of  us  came  to  help  him  out,"  said 
Uncle  Toby.  "Now  we'll  start  a  searching 
party.  I'll  go  with  you  girls  up  the  street, 
and  the  three  boys  can  go  down  the  street. 
Ask  every  one  you  meet  if  they  have  seen 
Trouble." 

"Only,"  suggested  Jan,  "we'd  better 
give  him  his  right  name  of  William." 

"That's  so!"  laughed  Uncle  Toby.  "If 
we  go  along  asking  every  one  we  meet  if 
they  have  seen  Trouble,  they'll  think  we 
are  trying  to  make  fun  of  them.  Yes,  we 
must  ask  for  news  of  a  little  boy  named 
William." 

So  they  started  out,  Ted,  Tom  and  Harry 
going  one  way,  and  Uncle  Toby  and  the 
three  girls  the  other  way.  Aunt  Sallie  re- 
mained behind  in  the  house,  but  she  was 
very  anxious,  and  she  said  she  would  call 
up  police  headquarters,  asking  that  each 
officer  be  told  to  be  on  the  lookout. 

At  first  the  question  asked  by  the  searchers 
had  no  effect.  No  one  seemed  to  have 
noticed  Trouble  toddling  along  the  streets, 
which,  as  Uncle  Toby  had  said,  were  now 


Off  to  Crystal  Lake  131 

quite  free  from  snow,  which  was  piled  high 
on  either  side. 

"Maybe  he  wandered  off  toward  the 
woods,"  suggested  Lola,  for  there  was  a 
clump  of  trees,  called  "woods"  not  far  from 
Uncle  Toby's  house. 

"I  don't  believe  so,"  was  Mr.  Bardeen's 
answer.  "I  think  he  wouldn't  go  there 
alone.  But  here  comes  Policeman  Mc- 
Carthy. I '11  ask  him." 

And,  to  the  delight  of  the  girls,  Policeman 
Me  Carthy  said  he  had  seen  a  little  boy  going 
along  the  street  a  few  minutes  before. 

"I  don't  know  what  his  name  was,"  the 
officer  said.  "But  he  was  dressed  just  as 
you  say.  He  seemed  to  know  where  he  was 
going,  so  I  didn't  stop  him,  though  he  was 
pretty  little  to  be  out  alone." 

"Where  did  he  go?"  asked  Uncle  Toby. 

"Eight  down  that  way,"  answered  the 
policeman,  pointing.  "He  was  standing  in 
front  of  that  barber  shop  the  last  I  saw 
him." 

"Oh,  now  I  know  where  he's  gone!" 
suddenly  cried  Janet. 

"Where?"  asked  Uncle  Toby. 

"In  the  barber  shop,"  answered  the  little 
girl.  "Trouble  was  in  the  bathroom  this 


132     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

morning,  Uncle  Toby,  getting  washed, " 
Janet  explained.  "He  found  some  of  your 
shaving  soap,  and  lie  liked  the  smell  of  it. 
He  was  rubbing  it  on  his  face  when  I  stopped 
him.  He  asked  me  where  you  got  your 
soap  and  I  told  him  in  a  barber  shop,  I 
thought.  Then  he  wanted  to  know  what  a 
barber  shop  was  like,  and  I  told  him  it  was  a 
place  that  had  a  red,  white,  and  blue  pole  in 
front  of  it.  So  that's  where  he's  gone — to 
the  barber  shop  to  get  some  of  that  nice 
smelling  soap." 

"I  shouldn't  wonder,"  agreed  Uncle  Toby. 
"I  hope  the  barber  kept  him  there,  if  he 
went  in." 

They  hurried  to  the  shop  in  front  of  which 
was  a  gay  red,  white,  and  blue  pole,  and 
there  they  found  Trouble.  But  they  found 
him  more  than  just  inquiring  for  scented 
soap,  for  he  was  up  in  the  chair,  kept  spe- 
cially for  children. 

In  front  of  Trouble,  draped  around  his 
neck,  was  a  white  apron,  and  the  barber, 
with  comb  and  scissors,  was  just  about  to 
cut  the  little  fellow's  long  hair. 

" Trouble!  What  are  you  doing?"  cried 
Uncle  Toby,  his  voice  causing  the  barber 
to  turn  around  in  surprise. 


Off  to  Crystal  Lake  133 

"I  goin'  get  hair  cut!"  announced  the 
little  fellow. 

' l  Oh,  no !    You  mustn  't ! "  exclaimed  Jan. 

"I  wants  hair  cut  an'  nice  smelly  stuff 
on  my  face,"  announced  the  little  fellow, 
holding  tightly  to  the  arms  of  the  barber's 
chair,  lest  he  be  made  to  come  out. 

"No,  no!"  said  Janet.  "Not  now,  Trou- 
ble!" 

"Didn't  some  of  you  send  him  to  have  his 
hair  trimmed?"  asked  the  barber,  in  some 
surprise. 

"No,  indeed!"  laughed  Uncle  Toby,  who 
knew  the  barber  quite  well.  "He  ran  off 
by  himself.  I'm  glad  we  reached  here  in 
time  to  stop  you.  He's  a  little  tyke;  that's 
what  he  is!" 

"Well,  he  came  in  here  as  bold  as  you 
please,"  said  Mr.  Miller,  the  barber.  "He 
climbed  up  in  the  chair  himself,  and  though 
he  didn't  tell  me  so  exactly,  I  thought  he 
wanted  a  hair  cut,  as  it's  pretty  long.  He 
did  say  he  wanted  some  nice  perfume  on  him, 
but  all  the  children  say  that  when  they  come 
in  here.  And  I've  often  had  them  as  young 
as  he  is  come  in  here  alone.  But  of  course 
their  fathers  or  mothers  sent  'em.  And  you 
didn't  send  this  little  chap?"  he  asked,  as 


134     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

he  helped  Trouble  down  out  of  the  chair, 
much  to  William's  disgust. 

"No,  we  didn't  send  him,"  chuckled  Uncle 
Toby.  "He  just  took  the  notion  himself. 
Tried  some  of  my  shaving  soap  this  morn- 
ing, so  his  sister  says.  Well,  I  am  glad  he's 
found.  We'd  better  take  him  baok  so  the 
boys  will  know  we've  come  to  the  end  of  the 
search.  'You  mustn't  do  anything  like  this 
again,  Trouble,"  said  Uncle  Toby,  a  bit 
sternly,  shaking  his  finger  at  William. 

"Nope!"  he  readily  promised.  "Maybe 
I  have  some  nice  smelly  stuff  take  home?" 
he  added  hopefully. 

"Here  you  are!"  laughed  the  barber,  and 
he  gave  Trouble  a  little  cake  of  scented  soap. 

"You  gave  us  a  big  scare,"  said  Janet, 
when  they  were  on  their  way  back  to  Uncle 
Toby's  house. 

"You  make  big  snowman?"  asked  Trou- 
ble, and  that's  about  all  he  seemed  to  care. 
Janet  wanted  to  laugh,  but  she  did  not  think 
it  wise. 

They  met  the  boys  coming  back,  Ted  and 
the  other  two  being  anxious,  as  of  course 
they  had  heard  no  word  about  the  missing 
wanderer.  But  they  saw  William  in  Uncle 


Off  to  Crystal  Lake  135 

Toby's  arms,  and  knew  everything  was  now 
all  right. 

"I'll  keep  my  eye  on  you  after  this,"  said 
Janet  when  the  children  were  once  more 
playing  in  the  snow  around  Uncle  Toby's 
house. 

But  it  was  one  thing  to  say  she  would 
keep  watch  over  a  little  chap  like  Trouble, 
and  another  thing  actually  to  do  it.  And 
William  made  more  trouble  before  the  day 
was  over. 

Evening  came,  when  it  was  time  to  stop 
playing  out  of  doors  and  come  into  the 
house.  And  it  was  after  supper  when  the 
children  were  sitting  in  the  living  room,  lis- 
tening to  Uncle  Toby  tell  a  story,  that  Aunt 
Sallie  came  running  in  from  the  kitchen. 

"Oh,  Uncle  Toby!"  she  cried.  "There's 
a  leak  in  one  of  the  pipes.  There's  a  big 
puddle  of  water  in  the  middle  of  the  kitchen 
floor.  It  was  dry  when  I  went  up  to  see 
if  the  beds  were  ready,  and  when  I  came 
down,  just  now,  I  found  a  lot  of  water 
there." 

"A  broken  pipe?  That's  too  bad!"  ex- 
claimed Uncle  Toby.  "I  may  be  able  to  fix 
it  myself;  but  if  I  can't,  we'll  have  hard 


136     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

work  getting  a  plumber  this  time  of  night. 
I  can  shut  off  the  water  in  the  cellar,  though, 
I  suppose.  However,  I'll  take  a  look." 

The  children  followed  Uncle  Toby  and 
Aunt  Sallie  out  to  the  kitchen.  Surely 
enough  there  was  a  large  puddle  of  water 
in  the  middle  of  the  oilcloth.  Uncle  Toby 
looked  up  and  around,  and  said: 

"I  can't  see  what  pipe  has  burst.  If  it 
was  one  in  the  kitchen  the  water  would  be 
spurting  out  now.  It  seems  to  come  from 
under  the  sink." 

By  this  time  Trouble  was  toddling  across 
the  room  toward  the  sink,  under  which  was 
a  sort  of  cupboard  with  two  swinging  doors. 
The  little  fellow  was  trying  to  open  one  of 
these  doors. 

"Here,  Trouble!  Let  Uncle  Toby 
look!  "said  Ted. 

"I  wants  get  my  snowball,"  announced 
William. 

"Your  snowball!"  cried  Jan. 

"Yep!  I  put  big  snowball  there  when 
I  corned  in.  Wants  to  get  it  now,"  and 
William  tugged  at  the  sink  door. 

"Ha!  Maybe  that's  where  the  water 
came  from!"  cried  Uncle  Toby. 

And  it  was.    As  the  sink  cupboard  was 


Off  to  Crystal  Lake  137 

opened  more  water  was  seen,  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  puddle  there  floated  what 
was  left  of  a  large  ball  of  snow.  Trouble 
had  brought  it  in,  put  it  under  the  sink 
when  no  one  was  looking,  and  there  the 
warmth  of  the  kitchen  stove  had  slowly 
melted  it,  causing  the  water  to  run  out 
under  the  doors. 

"What  in  the  world  made  you  put  a 
snowball  in  there,  Trouble?"  asked  Ted,  as 
Aunt  Sallie  mopped  up  the  water. 

"Maybe  I  wants  make  snowman  in  night, " 
was  Trouble's  answer. 

That  may  have  been  his  reason — no  one 
could  tell.  At  any  rate,  no  great  harm  was 
done,  as  the  snow  water  was  clean  and  the 
oilcloth  was  soon  wiped  dry. 

"I  guess  you'd  better  go  to  bed  before 
you  get  into  any  more  mischief,"  said 
Janet. 

And  soon  the  Curlytops  and  their 
playmates  were  all  sound  asleep. 

The  next  day  it  rained,  and  as  the  weather 
turned  warm  the  snow  was  soon  nearly  all 
melted  or  washed  away. 

"So  much  the  better  for  making  the  trip 
to  Crystal  Lake,"  said  Uncle  Toby.  "I 
don't  care  what  it  does  after  we  get  there, 


138     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

but  I  like  good  going  though  the  woods." 

"Oh,  what  fun  well  have  at  Crystal 
Lake!"  cried  the  Curlytops  and  their  play- 
mates. 

They  started  three  days  later,  in  the  big 
automobile.  Uncle  Toby,  Aunt  Sallie,  the 
children,  and  Skyrocket.  Uncle  Toby 
hired  a  colored  man  and  his  wife  to  come 
and  live  in  his  house  and  look  after  the 
pets,  including  the  new  kitten,  Fluff,  while 
he  was  at  camp  for  the  holidays. 

"Hurray!  Here  we  go!"  cried  Ted  and 
the  others,  as  Uncle  Toby  started  the  auto- 
mobile. 

As  they  were  turning  out  of  the  drive  a 
boy  came  riding  up  the  street  on  a  bicycle, 
waving  a  yellow  envelope  in  his  hand. 

"Wait  a  minute!  Wait  a  minute!"  he 
shouted.  "Here's  a  telegram!" 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  LONELY  CABIN 

UNCLE  TOBY  brought  the  automobile  to  a 
stop  and  looked  at  the  boy. 

"A  telegram?"  repeated  Uncle  Toby. 
"For  whom  is  it?" 

"You,"  answered  the  boy,  and  Ted  and 
Jan  wondered  if  it  could  be  about  their 
father  and  mother.  Suppose  one  of  them 
were  ill,  or  suppose  Daddy  Martin  had  lost 
all  his  money,  and  Ted  and  Jan  had  to  go 
back  home?  It  doesn't  take  much  to 
worry  children,  just  as  it  doesn't  take 
much  to  make  them  happy. 

Tom  and  Lola,  too,  knew  that  telegrams 
often  bring  bad  news,  and  as  Uncle  Toby 
was  opening  the  yellow  envelope  which  the 
boy  handed  him,  these  two  playmates  of 
the  Curlytops  thought  perhaps  something 
had  happened  at  their  home. 

And,  in  turn,  Harry  and  Mary  began  to 
fear  that  the  message  might  be  bad  news 

139 


140     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

about  their  mother  in  the  hospital.  A  few 
tears  began  to  form  in  Mary's  eyes,  but  they 
soon  dried  away  when  Uncle  Toby,  after 
reading  the  message,  gave  a  hearty  laugh. 

"Ha!  Ha!  Ha!"  chuckled  Uncle  Toby. 
"This  is  funny!  The  idea  of  sending  me 
a  message  like  this!" 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Ted,  while  the 
messenger  boy  waited  to  see  if  Uncle  Toby 
wanted  to  send  an  answer  to  the  telegram. 

"Oh,  it's  from  an  old  friend  of  mine, 
Hezekiah  Armstrong.  He  says  he  has  a 
chance  to  buy  an  elephant  cheap,  and  he 
telegraphs  to  ask  me  if  I  don't  want  it." 

"Want  an  elephant!"  repeated  Jan. 

"Yes,  for  a  pet,  I  suppose.  It  may  be 
one  of  his  jokes,  or  he  may  mean  it,  but  I 
certainly  don't  want  an  elephant,  in  winter 
time  especially." 

"Would  you  want  one  in  summer?" 
asked  Tom,  with  a  laugh. 

"Well,  an  elephant  is  easier  to  take  care 
of  in  summer  than  in  winter,"  answered 
Mr.  Bardeen.  "In  warm  weather  I  could 
turn  the  elephant  out  in  the  meadow  and 
let  him  eat  grass.  But  in  winter  I'd  have 
to  keep  him  in  a  barn  and  let  him  eat  hay, 
and  they  eat  a  big  lot  of  hay — enough  to 


The  Lonely  Cabin  141 

keep  me  poor,  I  guess.  So  I'll  just  tele- 
graph back  to  Hezekiah  that  I  don't  want 
an  elephant.  We  couldn't  take  it  to 
Crystal  Lake,  anyhow.  Here  you  are, 
son ! "  he  called  pleasantly  to  the  boy.  *  *  You 
take  back  this  message  for  me." 

Uncle  Toby  wrote  it  on  a  blank  of  which 
the  boy  had  a  number  in  his  pocket.  As 
Mr.  Bardeen  paid  the  lad  and  was  about 
to  start  the  automobile  again,  the  boy  asked : 

"  Where  you  going?"  He  was  ac- 
quainted with  Mr.  Bardeen. 

"Out  to  Crystal  Lake,"  answered.  Uncle 
Toby,  and  the  children  in  the  automobile 
wondered  if  the  messenger  lad  did  not  wish 
he  were  going. 

Crystal    Lake!"    exclaimed    the    boy. 
Are  you  going  out  there  to  catch  the 
burglar?" 

" Catch  the  burglar!  What  burglar?" 
asked  Uncle  Toby.  "This  is  the  first  I've 
heard  a  burglar  was  out  there.  What  do 
you  mean?" 

"It  was  in  the  paper  this  morning,"  the 
boy  went  on.  "It  said  some  of  the  cabins 
and  camps  out  at  the  Lake  had  been  broken 
into  and  robbed.  They  haven't  any  police 
out  there,  so  it  said  the  police  from  Pocono 


14 

u 


142     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

had  been  asked  to  see  if  they  could  catch  the 
burglar.  I  thought  maybe  that's  why  you 
were  going  out." 

"Oh,  no!"  replied  Uncle  Toby.  "I'm 
not  a  policeman.  And  though  I  wouldn't 
want  a  burglar  to  get  into  my  cabin,  he 
wouldn't  find  very  much  to  take  if  he  did  get 
in.  I  guess,  most  likely,  it's  some  tramp 
that  has  broken  into  some  of  the  cabins. 
We'll  not  worry  about  that,  shall  we,  Curly- 
tops?"  chuckled  Uncle  Toby.  "If  we  find 
any  burglars  out  there  we'll  make  Skyrocket 
bite  'em — sha'n't  we,  Trouble?"  and  he 
playfully  pinched  William's  cheek. 

"We  make  elephant  run  after  'em!" 
laughed  Trouble. 

"That's  right!"  said  Uncle  Toby. 

Once  more  they  started  off  in  the  big  com- 
fortable car  that  so  well  kept  out  the  cold. 
Most  of  the  snow  from  the  recent  storm  was 
gone,  though  Uncle  Toby  said  there  would 
probably  be  some  left  in  the  woods  around 
Crystal  Lake,  where  it  did  not  melt  as  fast 
as  in  Pocono. 

"I'm  glad  that  telegram  wasn't  bad  news 
from  home,"  said  Ted.  "It  isn't  any  good 
to  get  bad  news  just  when  you  start  to 
have  fun." 


The  Lonely  Cabin  143 


.. 


;  That  's  right, ' '  agreed  Tom.  ' '  My  father 
wasn't  feeling  very  well  when  we  started, 
and  I  thought  maybe  the  message  was  to 
say  he  was  worse. J ' 

"Mary  and  I  haven't  any  father  to  get 
messages  from,"  said  Harry,  rather 
sadly.  "We  hardly  remember  him,  for 
we  were  little  when  he  went  away  to  the 


war.' 


"And  he  never  came  back?"  asked  Jan 
softly. 

"No,  he  never  came  back,"  repeated 
Mary,  trying  to  keep  the  tears  from  her 
eyes. 

Uncle  Toby  saw  that  the  children  might 
be  made  sad  by  this  sort  of  talk,  so,  as  they 
were  passing  a  meat  market  on  the  edge  of 
town,  he  stopped  the  car  and  began  to  get 
out. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?"  asked  Aunt 
Sallie.  "I  have  everything  we  need  for 
getting  supper  out  at  the  Lake,  and  we  have 
our  lunch  with  us." 

"It  isn't  for  us,"  said  Uncle  Toby.  "It's 
for  Skyrocket.  I  want  to  get  him  a  nice 
bone  to  gnaw.  It  will  keep  him  quiet  on  the 
ride,"  he  explained.  "I'm  going  to  get  a 
fine,  juicy  bone  for  Skyrocket." 


144     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

This  took  the  children's  mind  off  what 
might  have  been  a  sad  subject  to  think  about 
— the  ill  mother  and  missing  father  of 
Harry  and  Mary.  And  when  Uncle  Toby 
made  Skyrocket  sit  up  in  the  automobile 
and  "beg"  for  the  bone,  the  dog  did  it  in 
such  a  funny  way  that  the  children  all 
laughed. 

"Now  they'll  be  all  right,"  said  Uncle 
Toby  to  himself,  as  he  again  sent  the  big  car 
forward. 

Soon  they  were  out  in  the  country. 
The  weather  was  pleasant  after  the  storm, 
though  it  was  cold,  and  would  soon  be  more 
frosty,  for  winter  was  at  hand,  and  the 
children  had  already  begun  to  think  of 
Christmas. 

As  Aunt  Sallie  had  said,  there  had  been 
placed  in  the  automobile  a  number  of  boxes 
of  lunch  to  be  eaten  on  the  way,  as  it  would 
be  night,  or  very  near  at,  before  the  cabin  in 
the  woods  could  be  reached.  Uncle  Toby 
had  written  to  a  lumberman  to  build  a  fire 
in  it  so  the  place  would  be  warm  for  the 
children.  It  was  a  large  roomy  cabin,  with 
many  comforts  and  conveniences.  Having 
the  lunch  in  the  automobile,  the  next  thing 
to  think  about  was  the  time  to  eat  it. 


The  Lonely  Cabin  145 

Possibly  the  boys  thought  more  about  this 
than  the  girls;  at  any  rate  that  must  have 
been  the  reason  why  Tom  and  Ted  so  often 
asked  Uncle  Toby  what  time  it  was,  for  the 
clock  on  the  instrument  board  of  the  auto- 
mobile was  not  going. 

"Well,  it  will  soon  be  eating  time,  if  that's 
what  you  want  to  know,"  answered  Uncle 
Toby,  with  a  laugh,  after  this  same  question 
had  been  asked  many  times.  He  seemed 
to  be  always  laughing. 

"In  fact  we  may  as  well  get  the  lunch  out 
now,  I  guess,  Aunt  Sallie,"  he  went  on. 
"We  had  an  early  breakfast  and — " 

He  suddenly  stopped  talking,  for  there 
was  a  loud  hissing  sound  from  beneath  the 
automobile,  as  if  a  big  snake  had  had  its  tail 
run  over. 

"Puncture!"  cried  Tom  and  Ted,  for 
they  knew  enough  about  cars  to  tell  this. 

"Well,  I'm  glad  it  isn't  a  blow-out!"  Un- 
cle Toby  exclaimed.  Had  there  been  a  blow- 
out the  noise  would  have  been  much  louder, 
like  the  bang  of  a  gun.  l  *  As  long  as  it 's  only 
a  puncture  we  can  easily  mend  it,  and  I'll 
do  that  while  the  rest  of  you  eat." 

"Oh,  let  me  help ! ' '  begged  Ted.  1 1 1  often 
help  daddy  when  he  has  tire  trouble." 


146     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

"I  want  to  help,  too,"  cried  Tom. 

"So  do  I,"  added  Harry.  "We  never 
had  an  auto,"  he  went  on,  "so  I  don't  know 
anything  about  them.  But  I'll  do  what  I 
can." 

"Well,  you  boys  can  hand  me  the  tools," 
said  Uncle  Toby,  "and  I'll  do  the  hard 
work.  This  is  a  heavy  car  and  I  don't  want 
you  getting  into  any  danger  around  it.  You 
can  be  getting  out  the  lunch,  Aunt  Sallie. 
We'll  be  ready  to  eat  after  we  finish  putting 
in  a  new  rubber  tube." 

"We'll  help,"  offered  Jan  and  the  other 
two  girls,  while  Trouble  cried : 

"I  want  to  see  punchure!  Want  to  see 
punchure!" 

"No,  you  stay  in  here,"  said  his  sister, 
for  she  knew  he  would  only  get  in  the  way 
if  allowed  to  run  about.  "I'll  let  you  open 
some  of  the  boxes." 

This  satisfied  Trouble,  who  was  now  con- 
tent to  stay  in  the  big  car.  Skyrocket, 
though,  went  out  with  the  boys  and  nosed 
about  in  the  woods  near  which  the  stop  had 
been  made. 

It  did  not  take  Uncle  Toby  long  to  jack 
up  the  car,  take  off  the  tire,  put  in  a  new 
tube,  and  be  ready  to  start  again.  But  be- 


The  Lonely  Cabin  147 

fore  doing  that  they  halted  a  bit  longer  to 
eat  lunch.  Hot  chocolate  had  been  brought 
along  in  thermos  bottles,  and  Uncle  Toby 
thought  the  chocolate  would  spill  on  the 
children  if  they  tried  to  drink  it  while  the 
automobile  was  moving. 

1  'There!  I  feel  better !"  exclaimed  Ted, 
after  the  lunch. 

" So  do  I!"  cried  Tom  and  Harry. 

Once  more  they  were  on  their  way, 
journeying  now  along  some  country  road, 
and  again  through  some  lonely  stretch  of 
wood.  They  were  almost  at  Crystal  Lake, 
and  in  another  quarter  of  an  hour  would  be 
at  Uncle  Toby's  cabin,  when  Mr.  Bardeen 
began  sniffing  the  air. 

"The  engine's  getting  too  hot,"  he  said, 
and  then,  as  he  noticed  some  steam  coming 
out  of  the  radiator  cap  he  added:  Water's 
getting  low.  I'll  have  to  stop  and  get 
some." 

"Where  can  you  get  any  water  around 
here?"  asked  Ted. 

"I'll  try  at  that  cabin,"  answered  Uncle 
Toby,  pointing  to  a  lonely  one  a  short  dis- 
tance ahead  on  the  road.  "I  guess  it  will 
be  safe  to  run  the  car  that  much  farther." 

"Who  lives  there?"  asked  Ted,  as  the 


148     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

automobile  went  along  more  slowly,  for 
Uncle  Toby  did  not  want  to  overheat  it. 

"Nobody  lives  there  now,"  was  the  reply. 
"It's  deserted.  But  there's  a  well  near  it, 
and  it's  such  a  deep  one  I  don't  believe  it 
will  be  frozen.  I  can  get  some  water  from 
the  well." 

Uncle  Toby  stopped  the  car  in  front  of  the 
lonely  cabin.  He  got  out  a  folding  canvas 
pail  from  the  tool-box,  and  was  going  toward 
the  cabin  when  Ted  exclaimed: 

"I  thought  you  said  nobody  lived  here, 
Uncle  Toby!" 

"So  I  did,"  was  the  answer.  "No  one 
has  lived  here  for  several  years." 

"Well,  look  at  him!"  cried  the  boy,  and 
he  pointed  to  a  man  running  away  over 
the  field  from  the  back  door  of  the  lonely 
cottage. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

AT  CRYSTAL  LAKE 

UNCLE  TOBY  was  much  surprised  at  what 
Ted  called  to  his  attention.  Turning  around, 
as  he  was  going  toward  the  well,  Uncle  Toby 
looked  to  where  the  Curlytop  boy  pointed. 
He  saw  the  form  of  a  man  vanishing  from 
sight  over  the  top  of  a  little  hill  just  behind 
the  lonely  cabin. 

" Hello  there!"  cried  Uncle  Toby,  in  such 
loud  tones  that  Skyrocket  began  to  bark 
fiercely.  "Hello  there!  Who  are  you*? 
What  are  you  doing  ?" 

The  man  did  not  stop,  turn  around,  nor 
answer.  Instead  he  ran  into  a  little  clump 
of  trees  and  was  soon  lost  to  sight.  With 
another  loud  bark  Skyrocket  took  after 
him. 

"Oh,  don't  let  our  dog  go!"  cried  Jan. 
"Make  him  come  back,  Uncle  Toby.  That 
man  might  hurt  him." 

"Just  what  I  think,"  said  Uncle  Toby. 


149 


150     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

"Here,  Sky!"  he  called,  for  sometimes  the 
Curlytops'  dog  was  given  that  short  name. 
"Here,  Sky!  Come  back.  Come  back!" 

Skyrocket  didn't  want  to.  He  dearly 
loved  a  chase,  and  this  man  seemed  willing 
to  run.  That  the  man  was  out  of  sight  made 
no  difference  to  the  dog.  Skyrocket  loved  a 
game  of  hide  and  go  seek,  and  perhaps  he 
thought  that  was  what  the  stranger  was 
playing. 
"Come  back  here,  Sky !"  called  Uncle  Toby. 

' '  Here,  Skyrocket !    Here ! ' '  shouted  Ted. 

Janet  added  her  voice  to  that  of  her 
brother  and  Trouble  chimed  in.  Perhaps 
all  these  had  an  effect  on  the  dog,  or  he 
might  have  thought  that  Uncle  Toby  would 
punish  him  if  he  did  not  mind.  At  any 
rate,  after  a  few  more  barks  and  some 
growls,  looking  meanwhile  toward  the 
clump  of  trees  into  which  the  man  had  dis- 
appeared, the  dog  came  back,  wagging  his 
tail  and  seeming  a  bit  disappointed. 

"Who  was  that  man,  Uncle  Toby?"  asked 
Janet. 

"I  don't  know,"  was  the  answer.  "No 
one  has  lived  in  that  cabin  for  years.  I 
guess  he  is  some  tramp  who  didn't  have 
any  other  place  to  stay." 


At  Crystal  Lake  151 

"He  didn't  look  like  a  tramp,"  observed 
Tom. 

"No,  his  clothes  weren't  ragged/'  added 
Ted. 

1  i  That 's  so, ' '  agreed  Uncle  Toby.  ' '  From 
the  little  look  I  had  of  him  he  wasn't  very 
ragged.  But  then  maybe  he  hasn't  been  a 
tramp  very  long,  and  it  takes  quite  a  while 
to  make  one's  clothes  ragged." 

"It  doesn't  take  Trouble  long!"  laughed 
Jan.  "He  can  go  out  with  a  good  new  suit 
on  and  come  back  in  half  an  hour  with  it 
all  full  of  cuts  and  holes." 

"Oh,  well,  Trouble  is  different,"  said 
Uncle  Toby,  with  a  chuckle. 

Uncle  Toby  stood  for  a  few  moments  look- 
ing toward  the  woods  into  which  the  strange 
man  had  run,  and  then,  going  to  the  well, 
filled  the  pail  with  water  and  put  some  in 
the  radiator  of  the  automobile.  After  that 
Uncle  Toby  went  around  to  the  back  of  the 
old  cabin. 

"Are  you  going  to  see  if  anybody  else  is 
there?"  asked  Jan,  while  Lola  and  Mary 
waited  with  curiosity  for  an  answer. 

"Let  me  come  and  help  look!"  cried 
Ted. 

"So  wiH  I  !"  added  Tom. 


152     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

"If  you  fellows  are  going  I  might  as  well 
go,  too,"  said  Harry. 

"No,  you  children  stay  where  you  are," 
called  Uncle  Toby.  "I'm  just  going  to  take 
a  look  around,  and  then  we'll  go  on  to 
Crystal  Lake.  Stay  where  you  are ! " 

Ted,  Janet,  and  the  others  remained  in  the 
automobile,  waiting  for  Uncle  Toby  to  come 
back.  Aunt  Sallie  was  almost  ready  to  doze 
off  in  a  little  sleep  when  Mr.  Bardeen  was 
seen  coming  around  the  corner  of  the  cabin. 
No  one  was  with  him,  and  there  was  no 
further  sight  of  the  man. 

"Was  anybody  else  in  there?"  asked  Ted. 

"No  one,"  replied  Uncle  Toby.  "The 
cabin  was  empty  as  far  as  I  could  see.  I 
guess  the  man  just  stopped  in  there  for 
shelter,  and  when  he  saw  us  he  thought  we 
owned  the  place  and  ran  out." 

"Who  does  own  it?"  asked  Tom. 

"It  belongs  to  a  lumberman  named 
Newt  Baker,"  answered  Uncle  Toby.  "He 
used  to  stay  here  in  the  summer,  and  some- 
times part  of  the  winter.  But  he  went  away 
and  since  then  no  one  has  lived  here — except 
that  tramp, '  '  he  added  with  a  laugh.  '  i  Poor 
man,"  he  went  on,  "I  hope  he  finds  some 
place  to  stay  this  winter.  It  looks  as  if  it 


At  Crystal  Lake  153 

might  be  a  hard  one  from  the  early  snow  we 
had." 

Once  more  they  started  off;  and  a  little 
later,  nothing  more  having  happened,  they 
arrived  safely  at  Crystal  Lake. 

"Oh,  what  a  fine  place!"  cried  Tom 
Taylor,  as  he  saw  the  big  body  of  water, 
on  the  shore  of  which  was  perched  Uncle 
Toby's  cottage.  The  lake  was  not  frozen, 
except  with  a  "skim"  of  ice  here  and  there 
in  little  coves. 

"It  would  be  lovely  in  summer  for  pic- 
nics," said  Lola.  Neither  she  nor  her 
brother  had  been  to  Crystal  Lake  before, 
but  the  Curlytops  had  visited  it  once  or 
twice  with  Uncle  Toby,  though  they  had 
almost  forgotten. 

"Well,  here  we  are,  children!"  called 
Uncle  Toby,  as  he  stopped  the  automobile 
near  his  "shack"  as  he  often  called  it. 
"Now  if  you'll  see  that  they  get  safely  in- 
side, Aunt  Sallie,  I'll  soon  be  with  you  and 
we'll  look  after  supper  and  get  the  beds 
ready." 

"I  not  goin'  to  bed  now!"  cried  Trouble. 
'  *  I  not  goin '  to  bed  now !  I  goin'  to  stay  up 
an'  see — an'  see— Santa  C'aus!"  he  burst 
out,  after  a  moment  of  thought. 


154     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

t  i  Oh,  you  little  tyke ! ' '  laughed  Lola,  catch- 
ing him  up  in  her  arms.  "  Santa  Claus 
won't  be  here  for  over  a  month." 

"And  you  don't  have  to  go  to  bed  right 
away,"  added  Janet. 

Out  of  the  auto  piled  the  boys  and  girls, 
Skyrocket  scrambling  ahead  of  them  to  smell 
around  and  find  out  what  sort  of  place  this 
was  that  he  had  been  brought  to. 

As  Aunt  Sallie,  the  Curlytops  and  their 
playmates  went  toward  the  front  door  of  the 
cabin,  the  door  was  opened  and  a  smiling 
man  looked  out. 

"Hello,  folks!"  he  called.  "I've  got  it 
good  and  warm  for  you,  though  it  isn't  as 
cold  as  it  was."  He  was  the  man  Uncle 
Toby  had  engaged  to  start  the  fires  and  to 
have  everything  in  readiness  for  the  coming 
of  the  Curlytops. 

"Well,  we're  glad  to  get  here,  Jim  Nel- 
son," said  Aunt  Sallie,  for  she  knew  the 
man. 

Uncle  Toby  put  the  car  in  the  barn  and 
came  in  with  some  of  the  boxes  and 
bundles  that  had  been  piled  in  the  automobile 
— bundles  of  clothes  and  things  for  the 
children. 

"Well,  you  got  here  all  right,  I  see,"  re- 


rAt  Crystal  Lake  155 

marked  Jim  Nelson.  "Have  any  trouble 
on  the  way?" 

"Not  to  amount  to  anything,"  answered 
Uncle  Toby.  "Funny  thing,  though,  down 
at  Newt  Baker's  cabin.  I  stopped  there  to 
get  some  water  from  his  deep  well.  And 
as  I  got  near  the  cabin  a  man  ran  out  and 
down  the  hill." 

"A  man!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Nelson,  while 
the  children  listened  to  the  talk.  "I  didn't 
know  anybody  was  living  there." 

"There  isn't — that  is,  not  living  there 
regularly,"  said  Uncle  Toby.  "But  a  man 
ran  out.  I  took  him  for  a  tramp  at  first, 
only  he  wasn't  ragged.  But  after  he  ran 
away  I  went  and  looked  in." 

"What  did  you  see?"  asked  Mr.  Nelson, 
and  this  the  Curlytops  and  others  wished 
to  hear  about. 

"Well,  it  looked  as  if  he'd  been  living 
there  and  doing  his  cooking  for  some  time," 
went  on  Uncle  Toby.  "There  were  a  lot  of 
tin  cans  and  odds  and  ends  of  loaves  of 
bread,  cracker  crumbs,  and  the  like  on  the 
table  in  the  kitchen.  Looked  to  me  as  if  this 
man  had  been  camping  out  in  Newt  Baker's 
shack." 

"Very    likely,"    said    Mr.    Nelson.    "I 


156     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

don't  like  such  characters  hanging  around 
Crystal  Lake.  We'll  have  to  keep  watch  for 
him.  If  there  are  tramps  around  they  may 
take  things.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  food  and 
little  comforts  of  small  value  have  been 
taken  from  some  of  the  cottages  and  camps. 
Fred  Tuller's  son  Tom  wrote  to  the  Pocono 
paper  and  made  a  whale  of  a  story  out  of  it. 
But  from  what  you  say  the  matter  may  be 
of  more  importance  than  we  thought.  At 
any  rate,  we'd  better  look  into  it." 

"We'll  keep  a  lookout,  then,"  said  Uncle 
Toby.  "And  I'll  take  another  run  down  to 
the  cabin  some  day,  after  I  get  the  Curly- 
tops  settled  here  having  fun,"  and  he 
laughed  at  the  boys  and  girls  so  they  would 
not  be  afraid  of  the  talk  of  tramps  and  men 
who  might  take  things. 

Mr.  Nelson  left  a  little  after  this,  promis- 
ing to  come  over  the  next  day  to  see  how 
they  were. 

Then  came  busy  times  in  Uncle  Toby's 
cabin  at  Crystal  Lake.  Aunt  Sallie  and  the 
three  girls  got  ready  the  supper,  while  the 
boys  opened  boxes  and  bundles.  Skyrocket 
ran  about  here  and  there,  poking  his  nose 
into  everything,  and  Trouble  was  almost  as 


At  Crystal  Lake  157 

bad,  for  he,  too,  wanted  to  see  everything 
that  was  going  on. 

At  last,  however,  things  began  to  get 
"straightened  out,"  as  the  Curlytops* 
mother  would  have  said,  and  they  sat  down 
to  a  fine  supper.  Every  one  had  a  good  ap- 
petite, even  Skyrocket,  who  had  gnawed 
clean  the  bone  Uncle  Toby  got  him  at  the 
butcher  shop. 

" Let's  play  hide  and  go  seek  before  we 
go  to  bed,"  proposed  Jan,  as  they  sat  about 
the  open  fireplace  in  the  big  living  room 
after  supper. 

"Will  it  be  all  right?"  asked  Mary. 

"Will  what  be  all  right*?"  Jan  wanted  to 
know. 

"I  mean  won't  your  uncle  be  mad  if  we 
play  in  his  house?"  went  on  Mary. 

"Oh,  dear  no!"  laughed  Jan.  "That's 
what  he  brought  us  up  here  for;  didn't  you, 
Uncle  Toby?" 

"Didn't  I  what,  Jan?"  he  asked,  for  he 
had  been  talking  to  Aunt  Sallie  about  the 
beds. 

"Didn't  you  bring  us  up  here  so  we  could 
have  a  good  time?" 

"Of  course  I  did!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Bar- 
deen.  "What  do  you  want  to  do  now?" 


158     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

"Play  hide  and  go  seek.    May  we? " 

"Yes,  go  ahead.  Hun  about  as  much  as 
you  please,  but  don't  get  hurt.  There  isn't 
any  fancy  furniture  here  to  break." 

This  was  true,  for  everything  in  the  cabin 
at  Crystal  Lake  was  heavy  and  strongly 
made  to  stand  rough  handling.  So  the 
children  could  do  no  harm  racing  about  the 
cabin. 

Soon  a  merry  game  was  in  progress,  even 
Trouble  taking  part,  though  he  could  hardly 
be  said  to  play  it  right.  His  idea  was  to 
hide  and  keep  on  yelling  for  some  one  to 
come  and  find  him,  his  voice  easily  telling 
where  he  was.  The  only  thing  to  be  done 
in  his  case  was  to  pretend  not  to  know  where 
he  was,  even  if  one  saw  him.  This  always 
made  Trouble  scream  with  delight,  and  he 
would  say,  over  and  over  again : 

"You  couldn't  find  me,  could  you?" 

And  of  course  they  always  said  they 
couldn't,  though  they  could  if  they  had 
wished. 

So  the  game  went  on,  Trouble  taking  his 
part  in  it.  Finally  came  the  turn  of  Mary 
to  "blind,"  and  as  she  covered  her  face  and 
began  to  count  slowly,  the  others  tiptoed 
into  the  different  rooms  to  hide.  The  cabin 


At  Crystal  Lake  159 

was  built  on  the  bungalow  style,  with  a 
number  of  rooms  on  the  first  floor,  and  there 
were  many  fine  hiding  places. 

Janet  went  into  a  room  at  the  far  end  of 
the  cabin,  a  room  that  no  one,  so  far  during 
the  evening,  had  entered.  It  was  where 
Uncle  Toby  was  going  to  sleep. 

"No  one  will  find  me  here,"  thought 
Janet,  as  she  crouched  down  behind  a  chair 
near  one  of  the  windows.  She  looked 
through  the  glass,  and  dimly  saw  the  dark 
forest  all  around  the  cabin.  "No  one  will 
think  of  coming  here,"  said  Janet  to  her- 
self. 

She  cuddled  herself  into  as  small  a  nook 
as  possible  down  behind  the  chair,  in  a  place 
where  she  could  look  out  through  the  other 
rooms  and  could  see  the  lamplight  and  fire- 
light in  the  big  living  apartment. 

It  was  in  this  living  apartment  that  Mary 
was  counting  with  her  eyes  shut  and  soon 
she  would  call:  "Ready  or  not  I'm  com- 
ing!" Then  she  would  walk  around  and 
try  to  find  the  hiding  ones. 

"But  she  won't  find  me,"  thought  Janet, 
"and  I  can  get  in  home  free." 

From  the  distance  Janet  heard  Mary  say 
she  was  coming,  and  then  suddenly  the  little 


160    The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

girl  was  startled  by  a  tapping  on  the  window 
just  back  of  the  chair  behind  which  she  was 
hiding. 

At  first  Janet  thought  it  was  the  brushing 
of  some  tree  branch  against  the  glass  that 
had  made  the  tapping  sound.  But  when  it 
came  again,  several  times,  and  very  regular, 
the  little  girl  knew  some  hand  must  be  doing 
it. 

"  Maybe  Tom  or  Ted  has  gone  outside 
and  is  trying  to  scare  me,"  thought  Janet. 
"I'll  take  a  peep  and  see." 

Slowly  she  raised  herself  up  from  her 
crouching  position  behind  the  chair.  And 
then  the  tapping  sound  on  the  glass  came 
again.  Janet  looked  out  and  gave  a  scream 
as,  looking  in  through  the  window,  she  saw 
the  face  of  a  man  on  which  the  moon  faintly 
shone. 


CHAPTER  XV 

ON  THE  SLIPPERY  HILL 

JANET  MARTIN  had  only  a  glimpse  of  the 
face  of  the  man  looking  in  through  the 
window  at  her  after  he  had  tapped  on  the 
glass.  As  soon  as  he  saw  some  one  peering 
out  at  him,  and  as  soon  as  he  heard  Janet 
scream — as  he  must  have  heard — the  man 
sprang  away. 

He  was  soon  lost  to  sight  in  the  woods 
around  the  cabin.  The  moon  shone  faintly 
— had  it  not  been  for  this  Jan  would  never 
have  seen  the  man's  face — but  it  was  not 
bright  enough  in  the  forest  to  see  him  after 
he  leaped  away  from  the  cabin. 

"Oh!  Oh!  Oh!  "screamed  Janet.  Her 
voice  rang  out  in  the  empty  room  and  was 
heard  by  Uncle  Toby,  Aunt  Sallie  and  the 
children  playing  hide  and  go  seek. 

"What's  the  matter?  What's  the  mat- 
ter?" asked  Uncle  Toby,  who  was  putting 
wood  in  the  fireplace. 

161 


162     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

"Oh,  it's  a  man!  A  man!"  cried  Janet, 
running  out  from  Uncle  Toby's  bedroom 
into  the  living  apartment  where  they  were 
now  all  gathered.  "A  man  looked  in  the 
window  at  me  and  he  tapped  on  the  glass!" 

"Who  was  he?"  asked  Uncle  Toby,  grasp- 
ing a  heavy  stick  of  wood.  Tom,  Ted  and 
Harry  at  once  began  to  think  they  had 
better  take  some  sticks,  too,  in  case  there 
might  be  a  fight.  "Was  it  Jim  Nelson?" 
went  on  Uncle  Toby.  "Sometimes  he  taps 
on  my  window  when  he  comes  around  by  the 
side  path." 

"I — I  couldn't  see  who  it  was — except 
that  he  was  a  man,"  stammered  Janet.  "As 
soon  as  he  saw  me  looking  at  him  he  ran 
away." 

"Jim  Nelson  wouldn't  do  that  unless  he 
was  playing  a  trick,"  decided  Uncle  Toby. 
"And  Jim  isn't  that  kind  of  a  man.  He 
wouldn't  scare  children.  I  must  see  who 
this  is!" 

"Maybe  he's  the  tramp  we  saw  over  at 
the  place  where  you  got  the  pail  of  water 
this  afternoon,"  said  Ted. 

"Maybe,"  agreed  Uncle  Toby.  "Well, 
if  he's  a  poor  man  and  in  trouble  I'm  sorry 
for  hi™.  But  he  hasn't  any  right  to  come 


On  the  Slippery  Hill  163 

sneaking  around  my  cabin,  tapping  on  the 
window.  Ill  see  about  this!" 

Uncle  Toby  went  outside,  and  the  boys 
followed.  Trouble  wanted  to  go  with 
Ted,  but  Janet  held  back  her  little  brother. 

In  the  moonlight,  which  was  brighter  now, 
as  the  clouds  had  blown  away,  Uncle  Toby 
made  a  trip  around  the  cabin,  taking  Sky- 
rocket with  him,  while  the  boys,  each  with 
a  chunk  of  wood  as  a  weapon,  followed  Mr. 
Bardeen. 

Uncle  Toby  called  loudly  to  know  who 
was  in  the  woods,  and  the  dog  barked,  but 
no  man  answered. 

"I  can't  find  any  one,"  Uncle  Toby 
announced,  coming  back  into  the  cabin  with 
the  boys.  "It's  too  dark  to  see  if  there  are 
any  strange  footprints  in  the  snow,  and  I 
don't  believe  we  could  tell  by  them  anyhow, 
as  Jim  Nelson  and  some  of  his  friends  have 
been  tramping  around  here  the  last  few  days, 
bringing  in  wood  and  things.  Are  you  sure 
you  saw  a  man  at  the  window,  Janet?" 

"Sure,  Uncle  Toby.  And  I  heard  him 
tapping  on  the  glass,  too." 

"Well,  I  don't  believe  he  meant  any  harm. 
Maybe  he  was  the  tramp  we  saw  at  the  lonely 
cabin,  or  it  may  have  been  another.  He 


164     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

may  have  wanted  shelter  for  the  night,  and 
something  to  eat.  But  when  he  heard  you 
scream  it  must  have  frightened  him  off,  as 
he  may  have  had  an  idea  he'd  be  scolded  for 
frightening  a  little  girl.  Anyhow,  no  harm 
is  done,  and  there  will  be  no  danger.  Go 
on  with  your  game." 

However,  the  children  were  too  excited 
over  what  had  happened  to  do  this.  Janet 
was  trembling,  and  the  others  wanted  her 
to  tell  over  again  just  what  had  happened. 
And  as  Janet  told  and  retold  it  she  became 
less  frightened,  until  finally  she  was  laugh- 
ing as  though  it  had  been  a  joke. 

"But  if  I'd  V  got  that  man  I'd  'a'  hit 
him  with  a  stick  of  wood !"  threatened  Ted. 

"So  would  I!"  declared  Tom  and  Harry. 

"Perhaps  it's  just  as  well  you  didn't  find 
"him  then,"  said  Uncle  Toby,  with  a  laugh. 

After  the  children  had  gone  to  bed — and 
Uncle  Toby  said  the  look  of  them  all  tucked 
in  made  him  think  of  a  boarding  school — he 
and  Aunt  Sallie  sat  up  a  bit  longer. 

"Do  you  really  think  Janet  saw  a  man?" 
asked  Aunt  Sallie.  "And  if  so,  who  was 
he?" 

"That's  more  than  I  can  tell,"  Uncle 
Toby  answered.  "Janet  isn't  the  kind  of 


On  the  Slippery  Hill  165 

girl  to  imagine  things.  I  believe  it  was  a 
man.  Probably  the  same  fellow  we  saw 
running  away  from  the  lonely  cabin.  To- 
morrow I'll  take  Jim  Nelson  and  some  of 
the  men  and  we'll  have  a  look  around.  I 
don't  want  rough  and  strange  men  roam- 
ing these  woods  when  I  have  a  lot  of  chil- 
dren out  here  for  the  holidays." 

"I  should  say  not!"  exclaimed  Aunt 
Sallie.  "I  wouldn't  like  it  myself!  And 
maybe  he's  the  man  who's  been  taking 
things." 

" Maybe,"  agreed  Uncle  Toby. 

However,  there  were  no  more  alarms  nor 
any  trouble  that  night,  and  after  a  few 
minutes  of  lying  awake  Janet  went  to  sleep 
as  soundly  as  the  other  children.  They 
slept  rather  late  the  next  morning,  for  they 
were  tired  with  the  travel  of  the  day  before, 
and  when  Jan  and  Lola  came  down  to  the 
kitchen  they  found  Aunt  Sallie  getting 
breakfast. 

"Oh,  we  said  we'd  get  up  and  help!" 
exclaimed  Jan.  For  she  had  promised  her 
mother,  on  leaving  home  to  visit  Uncle  Toby 
and  Aunt  Sallie,  that  she  would  help  with  the 
housework. 

"And  I  used  to  get  breakfast  all  alone," 


166     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

said  Mary.  "That  is  after  mother  was 
sick,"  and  she  could  not  keep  back  a  few 
tears,  though  she  turned  her  head  away  so 
the  other  girls  would  not  see  them. 

"Never  mind,  my  dear,"  said  Aunt  Sallie, 
with  a  laugh.  " I  didn't  want  you  to  get  up 
early.  Uncle  Toby  told  me  to  let  you  girls 
and  the  boys  sleep." 

"Oh,  aren't  the  boys  up  yet?"  asked  Jan, 
with  a  laugh. 

*  *  Uon  't  tell  me  we  Ve  beaten ! ' '  added  Lola, 
with  a  giggle. 

"They  said  they  were  going  to  get  up  and 
see  the  sun  rise,"  remarked  Mary. 

"I  guess  they  forgot  it,  or  else  they 
thought  they  could  see  the  sun  some  other 
morning, ' '  laughed  Aunt  Sallie.  l  l  For  they 
aren't  down  yet,  though  it's  almost  time 
to  call  them,  for  I'm  going  to  start  to  bake 
the  pancakes  soon." 

"Oh,  are  you  going  to  have  pancakes'?" 
cried  Jan. 

"Yes,  and  with  maple  syrup,"  Aunt  Sallie 
answered. 

"Oh,  I  love  them!"  exclaimed  Lola. 
"Don't  you,  Mary?" 

"I — I  don't  know,"  was  the  hesitating 
answer.  "I — I  guess  I  never  had  any." 


On  the  Slippery  Hill  167 

"Oh  my,  just — "  but  Lola  stopped.  She 
was  going  to  say  "just  fancy  a  girl  never 
having  eaten  pancakes  with  maple  syrup!" 
But  she  thought  it  would  not  be  polite  to  say 
that,  so  she  changed  it  to : 

"Just  you  wait  until  you  try  them! 
You '11  love  them!'7 

"I  know  Ted  does,  so  I'm  going  to  call 
him!"  exclaimed  Janet.  "He  wouldn't 
want  to  keep  on  sleeping  and  miss  the 
cakes." 

"Tom  wouldn't,  either,"  declared  Lola. 

So  they  called  the  boys,  who  soon  rushed 
downstairs,  as  hungry  as  ever  any  boys 
were.  And  the  girls  were  quite  as  hungry. 
As  for  Trouble,  he  always  thought  he  was 
hungry  whether  he  was  or  not. 

Uncle  Toby  came  in,  having  been  out  to  do 
the  chores,  he  said.  He  had  also  been  over 
to  Jim  Nelson's  cabin  to  talk  about  the  man 
who  had  tapped  on  the  window,  scaring 
Janet.  But  Uncle  Toby  said  nothing  about 
this.  Instead  he  said: 

"Getting  colder,  boys  and  girls.  Hope 
you  brought  your  skates." 

"Why,"  asked  Ted,  "is  there  skating?" 

"  No ;  but  there  will  be.  Shouldn  't  wonder 
but  what  part  of  the  lake  would  freeze  over 


168     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

by  to-morrow.  But  don't  any  of  you  go 
on  until  I  try  the  ice  to  see  if  it's  safe." 

" Guess  there  isn't  any  danger  of  me  go- 
ing on,"  remarked  Harry  Benton. 

"Why  not?"  asked  Ted.  "Don't  youlike 
to  skate?" 

"Sure  I  do!"  Harry  answered.  "But  I 
haven't  any  skates." 

"I  brought  some  extra  pairs  along," 
remarked  Uncle  Toby.  '*!  think  I  have 
some  that  will  fit  you  and  Mary." 

"Oh,  goodie !"  cried  Mary,  for  she  felt  she 
could  now  have  fun  like  the  other  girls. 

"But  it  hasn't  frozen  yet,  though  it  soon 
will  be,"  said  Uncle  Toby.  "Well,  I'm  go- 
ing to  leave  you  youngsters  to  amuse  your- 
selves for  a  while,  as  I  have  some  things  to 
look  after." 

Uncle  Toby  paused  for  a  moment  and 
then  went  on. 

"Now  about  school." 

"Yes,"  said  Ted,  in  a  low  voice.  "I 
s'pose  we'll  have  to  go,"  he  added,  with  a 
sigh. 

"No!"  exclaimed  Uncle  Toby.  "That's 
the  queer  part  of  it.  You  can't  go.  I  told 
your  folks  you  could,  but  you  can't." 

"Why  not?"  asked  Jan,  and  neither  she 


On  the  Slippery  Hill  169 

nor  any  of  the  others  seemed  disappointed. 

"The  teacher  they  had  here  was  taken 
sick,  I've  just  heard,  and  they  can't  get  an- 
other until  after  the  holidays.  So  it  does- 
n't look  as  though  you  could  go  to  school. 
I'm  sorry — ' 

"Oh,  ho!"  cried  the  Curlytops  and  their 
playmates.  "No  school!  Hurray!" 

"Now  we'll  go  out  and  have  some  fun!" 
shouted  Ted,  as  Uncle  Toby  left  the  cabin. 

"Me  come!"  cried  Trouble. 

"Yes,  we'll  take  you,"  answered  Lola. 

"Take  good  care  of  Trouble !"  called  Aunt 
Sallie  to  the  boys  and  girls  as  they  started 
from  the  cabin.  They  were  warmly  dressed, 
as  it  was  getting  colder,  just  as  Uncle  Toby 
had  declared. 

"We'll  watch  him!"  called  back  Jan. 

Off  through  the  trees,  under  which,  here 
and  there,  were  patches  of  snow,  wandered 
the  Curlytops  and  their  playmates.  They 
laughed  and  shouted,  running  here  and  there 
until  they  were  nearly  as  warm  as  on  a 
summer's  day.  It  was  sheltered  under  the 
trees,  but  out  in  the  open  was  getting 
colder,  and  in  places  thin  ice  was  forming 
on  Crystal  Lake. 

They  walked  along,  sometimes  all  together 


170     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

and  again  with  the  boys  running  ahead  of 
the  girls,  until  they  caine  to  a  little  hill, 
covered  with  pine  trees.  The  wind  had 
swept  the  ground  bare  of  snow  here,  or  else 
it  had  melted,  and  in  places  were  patches  of 
the  long,  smooth  and  slippery  pine  needles. 

Tom,  Ted,  and  Harry  had  run  off  to  one 
side,  for  Skyrocket  had  scared  up  a  rabbit 
and  the  boys  wanted  to  see  the  bunny,  though 
they  would  not  have  let  the  dog  harm  it. 
Trouble  started  to  follow  his  brother  and 
the  other  two  lads,  but  as  he  reached  the  top 
of  the  pine-needle-covered  hill  Janet  called 
him  back. 

"Trouble,  come  here!"  she  exclaimed. 

"No!"  he  answered.  "I  go  see  bunny 
rabbit!" 

"No,  you  must  stay  with  me,"  said  Janet, 
starting  after  him.  Trouble  gathered  him- 
self to  spring  away  on  a  run,  but  suddenly 
there  was  a  queer  screeching  call  in  a  tree 
over  his  head,  and  a  moment  later  the  little 
fellow  went  sliding  and  slipping  down  the 
hill  and  out  of  sight. 

"Oh,  dear!"  cried  Janet 

"Was  it  an  eagle  that  screamed?"  asked 
Lola,  who  did  not  know  much  about  birds. 


On  the  Slippery  Hill  171 

" Maybe  the  eagle  carried  him  off,"  sug- 
gested Mary,  who  knew  even  less  about  the 
creatures  of  the  woods. 

" There  aren't  any  eagles  around  here,  I 
hope,"  said  Janet.  "But  something  hap- 
pened to  Trouble!  I  hope  he  isn't  hurt!" 

Again  came  that  shrill,  harsh  call.  It 
sounded  like: 

"Hay!    Hay!    Hay!" 

"Somebody  is  laughing  because  Trouble 
fell  downhill, '  *  said  Lola.  ' '  I  wonder  if  it 's 
that  horrid  old  man?" 

A  moment  later  there  was  a  rustling  in 
the  bushes,  and  a  large  bird  with  bright  blue 
feathers  marked  with  patches  of  white  flew 
up  into  a  tree  harshly  crying : 

"Hay!    Hay!    Hay!" 

"Oh,  it's  a  blue  jay!"  exclaimed  Janet,  as 
she  ran  to  the  top  of  the  hill  to  see  what  had 
happened  to  William.  It  was  nothing  se- 
rious. He  had  merely  slid  down  on  the 
smooth  brown  pine  needles  which  covered 
the  ground  and  made  it  almost  as  slippery 
as  a  coasting  hill.  Perhaps  the  sudden  cry 
of  the  blue  jay  had  made  Trouble  give  a  ner- 
vous jump  and  this  had  thrown  him  off  his 
balance,  causing  him  to  fall. 


172     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

"Was  that  bird  chase  me?"  he  asked,  as 
he  heard  the  blue  one  cry  and  saw  it  flitting 
about. 

"Oh,  no,"  answered  Lola.  "You  chased 
yourself,  I  guess.  Are  you  hurt?" 

"I — I'm  all — bumped,"  explained  Trou- 
ble. 

And  this,  really,  was  all  that  had  happened 
to  him.  The  pine  hill  was  so  smooth  that  no 
one  could  have  been  hurt  on  it.  The  girls 
found  it  so  slippery  that  they  could  hardly 
stand  up  on  it  while  helping  Trouble  up. 

"Let's  try — "  began  Mary.  She  was 
about  to  say  "try  a  slide,"  when  her  feet 
suddenly  went  from  under  her  and  she  did 
as  Trouble  had  done.  She  burst  out  laugh- 
ing, as  did  William  and  the  other  two  girls, 
and  the  woods  echoed  to  the  merry  sound, 
bringing  the  boys  over  on  the  run.  They 
had  not  seen  the  rabbit  after  the  first  fleet- 
ing glimpse. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Ted. 

"We've  found  a  slippery  place,"  an- 
swered his  sister. 

"Come  on,  let's  try  it!"  suggested  Tom. 

They  all  did,  making  efforts  to  go  down 
the  slippery  pine-needle  hill  standing  up. 
But  every  one  toppled  before  reaching  the 


On  the  Slippery  Hill  173 

bottom  of  the  hill.  However,  this  was  part 
of  the  fun,  and  Trouble  enjoyed  it  with  the 
others. 

Now  and  then  the  blue  jay  would  flit  to 
and  fro,  alighting  on  the  trees  or  bushes, 
and  shrilly  cry: 

"Hay!    Hay!    Hay!" 

"Maybe  he  wants  to  play,  too,"  suggested 
Mary,  who  liked  to  look  at  one  of  our  most 
brilliantly  colored  winter  birds. 

"He's  making  enough  fuss  about  it,  any- 
how," said  Tom. 

The  children  had  lots  of  fun  in  the  woods 
that  day  and  the  next.  No  more  tappings  on 
the  window  were  heard,  and  the  Curlytops 
and  their  playmates  forgot  all  about  the 
little  scare.  The  weather  grew  colder  and 
colder.  One  morning  Uncle  Toby  came  in 
from  the  barn.  He  rubbed  his  red  hands 
before  the  fire  and  said: 

"Lake's  frozen  over!  Now  you  can  go- 
skating!" 


CHAPTER  XVI 

A  REAL  TOBOGGAN 

have  a  race!"  cried  Ted,  as  soon 
as  his  skates  were  fastened  on  his  shoes,  for 
as  soon  as  breakfast  was  over  the  children 
had  gone  out  on  the  ice  with  their  skates. 

"All  right!"  shouted  Tom,  who  was  quite 
ready  for  this  sort  of  fun.  "I  can  beat  you, 
Ted  Martin!" 

"And  I  can  beat  you,  Tom  Taylor!" 
exclaimed  Lola,  his  sister,  who  was  a  very 
good  skater. 

"Oh,  wouldn't  it  be  fun  if  we  two  could 
beat  them?"  suggested  Jan  to  Lola. 

"We'll  try,"  was  the  answer. 

Meanwhile,  though  Mary  and  Harry  had 
put  on  their  skates,  they  took  no  part  in 
this  talk  and  stood  about  on  the  ice  as  if 
they  hardly  knew  what  to  do. 

"Will  you  join  in  the  race?"  asked  Lola 
of  Mary.  "We  three  girls  against  the 
boys." 

174 


A  Real  Toboggan  175 

"I  don't  believe  I  can  skate  well  enough 
to  race,"  Mary  answered,  and  her  brother 
joined  in  with: 

"You  see  we  never  had  much  chance  to 
skate,  and  about  all  we  can  do  is  to  move 
along  in  a  straight  line. ' '  He  laughed  good- 
naturedly  over  his  own  lack  of  skill. 

"Oh,  that's  all  right!"  cried  Ted,  in  jolly 
fashion.  "We  won't  have  any  race  then — 
that  is,  until  after  you  two  get  more  used  to 
your  skates." 

"Oh,  don't  let  us  stop  you  from  having 
fun!"  exclaimed  Mary. 

"We  can  have  just  as  much  fun  not  rac- 
ing. I  don't  care  much  for  it,  anyhow,  do 
you,  Jan?"  said  Lola. 

"No,  indeed!"  answered  the  Curlytop 
girl.  Thus  did  they  try  to  make  Mary  and 
Harry  feel  happier,  and  they  succeeded. 

"I  tell  you  what  we  can  do,"  suggested 
Tom  Taylor.  "Ted  and  I  can  show  you  a 
few  easy  tricks  on  skates,  Harry,  and  Jan 
and  Lola  can  do  the  same  with  Mary." 

"That  will  be  fine!"  exclaimed  Harry. 
"Then,  when  we  know  more  about  it,  we 
can  have  a  race." 

So  it  was  decided,  and  then  and  there  be- 
gan lessons  for  the  two  poor  children  whom 


176     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

Uncle  Toby  had  brought  to  Crystal  Lake 
so  they  might  have  a  good  time  over  the 
holidays.  Harry  and  Mary  were  quick  to 
learn,  and  though  it  would  be  some  time 
before  they  could  beat  any  of  the  other  four 
children  in  a  race,  they  did  very  well  for 
beginners. 

"See  if  you  can  do  this!"  cried  Ted,  after 
having  shown  Harry  how  to  " grind  the  bar" 
backward,  a  trick  Harry  soon  learned. 

" Watch  me!"  cried  Ted,  as  he  began 
doing  what  he  called  a  grapevine  twist.  To 
do  it  he  darted  farther  out  from  shore  than 
any  of  them  had  yet  gone,  and  just  as  he 
was  dong  some  fancy  skating  there  was  a 
loud  booming,  cracking  sound  that  sent  a 
shiver  all  through  the  ice  on  which  the  others 
were  standing. 

"Oh,  come!  Come  back!"  cried  Jan  to 
her  brother.  "The  ice  is  going  to  break! 
We '11  fall  in!" 

"That's  right!"  yelled  Tom.  "Come  on 
back,  Ted!" 

Ted  needed  no  urging,  but  skated  as  fast 
as  he  could  toward  shore,  whither  the  others 
were  fleeing  as  fast  as  they  could  strike  out 
on  their  skates.  They  reached  land  safely, 
and,  to  their  surprise,  no  big  cracks  or  holes 


A  Real  Toboggan  177 

appeared  in  the  ice.  It  seemed  as  solid  as 
ever. 

'  '  I  wonder  what  made  that  ? ' '  asked  Janet, 
whose  heart  was  beating  fast. 

"The  ice  broke  somewhere, "  declared 
Lola. 

"We'd  better  not  go  on  it  any  more," 
said  Mary. 

"Well  go  up  and  ask  Uncle  Toby  about 
it,"  suggested  Ted.  "I  don't  want  to  stop 
skating. ' ' 

As  the  children  were  about  to  take  off 
their  skates  to  go  back  to  the  cabin,  Aunt 
Sallie  was  seen  coming  down,  dragging 
Trouble  on  a  sled.  There  were  patches  of 
snow  here  and  there  so  it  was  not  hard  to 
pull  the  sled  along.  And  Trouble  was  not 
very  heavy. 

"Oh,  Aunt  Sallie,  you  ought  to  hear  the 
ice  crack!"  called  the  children  in  a  chorus. 

"Is  it  dangerous  9"  asked  Mary. 

Uncle  Toby  came  out  of  the  bungalow  and 
heard  what  was  asked. 

"That  rumbling,  cracking  sound  isn't 
anything  dangerous,"  he  said.  "The  ice 
often  does  that,  and  often  big  cracks  come 
in  it  out  in  the  middle  of  the  lake.  But 
it  is  thick  enough,  and  it  won't  break 


178     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

through  with  you  or  I  shouldn't  have  let  you 
go  skating.  But,  even  with  all  I  have  said, 
don't  go  too  far  out." 

The  children  felt  safer,  now  that  Uncle 
Toby  had  told  them  this,  and  Ted  again 
started  to  show  Harry  how  to  do  a  grape- 
vine twist.  Aunt  Sallie  gave  the  sled  and 
Trouble  over  in  charge  of  the  girls,  and 
they  skated  up  and  down  pulling  William 
to  and  fro,  to  his  great  delight. 

The  boys,  now  that  Harry  felt  more  at 
home  on  his  skates,  began  to  try  to  outdo 
each  other  in  tricks,  and  when  Harry  said 
he  would  be  the  judge,  Tom  and  Ted  had 
a  race,  Ted  winning. 

Once  Jan  and  Lola  skated  so  fast,  pre- 
tending they  were  a  team  of  horses  pulling 
Trouble  on  his  sled,  that  Jan  stumbled  and 
fell  dcfwn,  also  tripping  Lola.  The  girls 
were  not  hurt,  and  they  slid  along  over  the 
ice  laughing.  But  the  sled  was  upset, 
Trouble  fell  off,  and  though  he  was  so  bun- 
dled up  that  he  didn't  get  hurt,  he  began 
to  cry. 

"I  guess  we'd  better  take  him  in,"  sug- 
gested Jan.  "He  may  be  cold.  Anyhow, 
I've  had  enough  skating." 

"So  have  I,"  said  Mary  and  Lola. 


A  Real  Toboggan  179 

They  went  up  to  the  cabin,  taking  Trouble 
with  them.  But  the  boys  remained  on  the 
ice  a  while  longer,  and  Harry  was  rapidly 
becoming  a  good  skater. 

The  three  lads  did  not  take  off  their  skates 
until  it  was  time  for  dinner,  and  after  the 
meal  they  went  back  on  the  frozen  lake 
again,  though  the  girls  stayed  in  to  play 
with  their  dolls. 

"Make  the  most  of  your  skating,"  said 
Uncle  Toby,  as  he  watched  the  three  lads 
circling  around  on  the  ice. 

"Why?"  asked  Tom. 

"Because  I  think  we  are  going  to  have 
another  storm,"  was  the  answer.  "It  is 
going  to  snow,  and  then  all  the  ice  will 
be  covered.  Of  course  you  can  scrape  clean 
a  small  place,  but  it  will  be  hard  work.  So 
get  all  the  skating  you  can  while  it's  good." 

This  the  boys  did,  that  day  and  the  next. 
But  the  following  morning,  when  they 
awakened  and  looked  from  the  windows, 
they  saw  the  ground  white  with  snow,  and 
more  flakes  coming  down. 

"Hurray!"  cried  Tom.  "Now  we  can 
have  fun  coasting!" 

"And  maybe  we  can  make  a  toboggan 
slide!"  added  Ted. 


180     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

"I've  seen  them,"  remarked  Harry,  "but 
I  was  never  on  one." 

"We  had  a  wooden  one  in  our  yard,  but 
we  had  to  put  candle  grease  on  our  sled 
runners  first,"  Ted  explained.  "It  would 
be  great  if  we  could  make  a  regular  tobog- 
gan slide." 

"Let's  ask  Uncle  Toby,"  suggested  Janet. 

Uncle  Toby  laughed  in  jolly  fashion  as 
the  Curlytops  and  their  playmates  swarmed 
around  him  in  the  cozy  cabin. 

"A  toboggan  slide,  eh?"  he  cried.  "Well, 
I  don't  see  why  you  can't  have  one,  and  you 
don't  need  to  build  it  of  wood,  either,  for 
there's  a  good  hill  not  far  away.  But  how 
would  you  like  to  coast  on  a  regular  tobog- 
gan instead  of  your  sleds?" 

"Oh,  could  we?"  shouted  Ted. 

"I  guess  so,"  was  the  answer.  "There's 
a  French  Canadian  who  lives  not  far  away, 
and  he  has  a  big  toboggan.  We'll  go  over  in 
the  auto  and  see  if  he'll  let  us  take  it.  I 
used  to  have  one  out  here,  but  I  find  that 
it's  broken." 

"Oh,  what  fun  we'll  have!"  sang  Janet, 
and  the  others  joined  in  the  chorus  of  joy. 

It   kept    on    snowing,    but    they    could 


A  Real  Toboggan  181 

journey  out  in  the  big,  closed  automobile 
even  with  the  storm  all  about,  and  this  they 
soon  did. 

"But  if  we  get  the  toboggan  how  can  we 
get  it  in  here?  There  isn't  much  room," 
remarked  Ted,  for  the  children  and  Uncle 
Toby  almost  filled  the  big  machine. 

"Oh,  well  tie  it  on  behind  and  pull  it 
over,"  said  Uncle  Toby.  "A  toboggan  can 
go  faster  than  any  auto." 

"I  ride  on  it!"  said  Trouble,  and  the 
others  laughed,  for  of  course  he  didn't 
know  what  he  was  talking  about. 

The  road  to  the  cabin  of  the  French 
Canadian  lumberman  who  owned  the  big 
toboggan  ran  past  the  lonely  shack  where 
Uncle  Toby  had  once  stopped  for  water 
and  from  which  the  strange  man  had  run 
away.  As  they  neared  this  cabin  again 
Ted  asked: 

"I  wonder  if  that  man  is  in  there  now?" 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Uncle  Toby.  "But 
I  think  I'll  take  a  look.  Jim  Nelson  and 
I  meant  to  do  it  before  this,  but  we  haven't 
had  a  chance.  We  don't  want  any  tramps 
living  in  our  woods." 

He  stopped  the  machine  near  the  cabin 


182     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

and  got  out.  The  boys  wanted  to  follow 
him,  but  he  told  them  to  remain  with  the 
girls. 

"Fm  just  going  to  look  in  the  window," 
said  Uncle  Toby. 

He  did  this,  first  at  the  front  windows, 
and  evidently  saw  nothing,  for  he  soon  went 
around  to  the  rear.  And  suddenly  the 
children  in  the  automobile  heard  shouting, 
and  the  shouts  came  from  inside  the  cabin. 

"Somebody's  there!"  cried  Ted,  starting 
to  get  out. 

4 'You  stay  here!"  cried  Janet,  catching 
her  brother  by  the  coat.  "Uncle  Toby  told 
you  to  stay  here!" 

As  Ted  sank  back  in  his  seat  they  could 
all  hear  Uncle  Toby  saying: 

"Who  are  you?  What  are  you  doing  in 
there?" 

The  man  in  the  lonely  cabin  answered, 
but  what  he  said  the  Curlytops  and  their 
playmates  could  not  tell.  There  was  more 
shouting  to  and  fro  between  Uncle  Toby  and 
the  unknown  man,  and  then  Mr.  Bardeen 
came  around  to  the  front  of  the  cabin. 

"Is  he  there?  Who  is  he?  What  does 
he  want?"  The  children  quickly  asked 
these  questions. 


A  Real  Toboggan  183 

— — 

"Oh,  he's  just  a  tramp  I  guess,"  answered 
Uncle  Toby.  "I  couldn't  make  much  out 
of  him.  But  I'll  tell  Jim  Nelson  and 
some  of  the  lumbermen,  and  we'll  see  what 
he's  doing  there.  He  can't  do  much  harm, 
for  there  isn't  anything  of  value  in  the 
old  shack.  But  it's  just  as  well  not  to  have 
a  tramp  in  there." 

Once  again  Uncle  Toby  started  the 
machine,  and  soon  they  were  at  the  cabin 
of  the  French  Canadian. 

1 1  Could  we  borrow  your  toboggan,  Jules  ? ' ' 
asked  Uncle  Toby. 

"Oh,  of  a  sure  yes!"  was  the  answer, 
Jules  doing  his  best  to  speak  what  to  him 
was  a  new  language.  "I  bring  she  out  to 
you!" 

He  ran  around  to  the  back  of  his  shack, 
and  soon  came  into  view  again  with  a  real 
toboggan,  at  the  sight  of  which  the  children 
set  up  a  joyous  shout. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  SNOW  HOUSE 

THE  Frenchman's  toboggan  was  a  large 
one.  It  would  hold  all  of  the  Curlytops  and 
their  playmates,  with  room  to  spare.  I 
suppose  most  of  you  have  seen  toboggans, 
or  pictures  of  them,  and  know  what  they 
are.  Instead  of  being  made  like  a  sled,  with 
steel  runners,  a  toboggan  is  like  a  thin,  flat 
board,  with  the  front  end  curled  up  like  the 
old  fashioned  Dutch  skates.  Only  instead  of 
being  made  of  one  flat  piece  of  wood,  a  large 
toboggan  is  made  of  several  strips  fastened 
together  so  it  will  not  so  easily  break. 

On  the  side  of  Jules 's  toboggan  were  hand 
rails,  to  which  the  riders  could  hold.  There 
was  also  a  cushion  on  which  to  sit,  and  alto- 
gether it  was  a  very  fine  way  of  coasting 
downhill. 

"Oh,  what  fun  we'll  have  on  this!"  cried 
Jan. 

"Will  it  go  fast?"  asked  Lola. 

184 


The  Snow  House  185 

"It'll  go  like  an  express  train!"  cried 
Ted. 

"And  we  fellows  will  take  turns  sitting  on 
the  back  and  sticking  our  feet  out  to  steer," 
added  Tom,  for  that  is  how  a  toboggan  is 
guided,  you  know. 

"If  it's  going  as  fast  as  an  express  train 
I  don't  believe  I  want  to  ride,"  said  Mary, 
who  was  rather  more  timid  than  the  other 
children. 

" Don't  let  those  boys  scare  you,"  advised 
Janet.  l  *  They  're  only  talking  to  hear  them- 
selves talk.  Tom  and  Ted  are  always  that 
way — aren't  they,  Lola?" 

"Yes,"  answered  Tom's  sister,  with  a 
laugh. 

The  boys  were  now  clustered  around  the 
big  toboggan,  and  Trouble  had  taken  his 
seat  in  the  middle  of  the  cushion. 

"You  give  me  wide!"  he  demanded  of 
his  brother. 

"Not  now — a  little  later,"  promised 
Ted.  He  wanted  to  listen  to  what  the  Cana- 
dian was  saying,  telling  Uncle  Toby  how 
the  big  toboggan  was  best  managed  on  a  hill. 

"I'll  go  down  with  the  children  the  first 
few  times,"  said  Uncle  Toby,  "to  make  sure 
it's  all  right.  Our  hill  isn't  so  very  steep, 


186     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

and  I  don't  believe  there's  much  danger." 

"On  little  hill  not — no!"  exclaimed  Jules, 
with  a  smile  that  showed  all  his  white  teeth. 
"But  on  big  hill,  steep  so  like  roof  of  house, 
toboggan  her  go  like  what  you  say — fifty- 
nine  T* 

"I  guess  you  mean  like  sixty,"  laughed 
Uncle  Toby. 

"Mebby  so.  Her  go  very  fast.  I  like 
for  childrens  to  have  good  time,  but  not  too 
fast!" 

"Ill  see  that  they  are  careful,"  promised 
Uncle  Toby. 

After  much  teasing  the  three  boys  were 
allowed  to  sit  on  the  toboggan  after  it  was 
tied  to  the  rear  of  the  automobile  for  the 
trip  home. 

"I  won't  go  very  fast,"  said  Uncle  Toby. 
"But  if  I  should  have  to  stop  you  boys  will 
need  to  stick  your  feet  down  in  the  snow 
suddenly  to  put  on  the  brakes,  you  know,  or 
you'll  bump  into  my  rear  wheels." 

"Well  do  that,"  promised  Tom,  Ted,  and 
Harry. 

Trouble  wanted  to  ride  with  the  boys  on 
the  toboggan  as  it  was  drawn  along  over  the 
snow  behind  the  auto,  but  he  was  not  allowed 


The  Snow  House  187 

to  do  this,  as  it  was  thought  his  brother  and 
the  other  two  lads  would  be  so  full  of  fun 
that  they  would  forget  to  watch  him,  and  he 
might  fall  off  and  be  left  behind. 

The  toboggan  was  made  fast  with  a  long 
rope,  the  boys  took  their  places,  and  with 
many  thanks  to  Jules  for  his  kindness,  the 
trip  home  was  begun. 

" Hurray!"  cried  Ted.    "Here  we  go!" 

"Talk  about  fun!"  shouted  Tom.  "We're 
having  it  all  right!" 

"I  never  had  such  a  good  time  in  my  life," 
said  Harry,  his  eyes  shining  with  pleasure. 
He  wished  his  mother  might  have  shared  in 
some  of  his  and  his  sister's  enjoyment,  and 
how  he  wished  that  he  had  a  father,  such  as 
the  other  boys  had,  only  he  himself  knew. 
But  he  said  nothing  of  this. 

"Hold  on  tightly  now,  boys  I"  called 
Uncle  Toby. 

"We  will!"  they  answered,  and  away  they 
went. 

At  first  everything  was  all  right.  The 
road  was  slightly  up-hill  and  the  toboggan 
kept  well  back  from  the  wheels  of  the  auto- 
mobile, so  there  was  no  danger  of  bumping 
into  them.  But  when  the  automobile 


188     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

started  down  grade  toward  Uncle  Toby's 
cabin,  the  wooden  sled  slid  faster  than  the 
automobile  was  pulling  it. 

"Put  on  brakes!  Put  on  brakes!" 
shouted  Ted. 

"Stick  your  feet  in  the  snow!'*  echoed 
Tom. 

The  three  boys  thrust  their  feet  out  on 
either  side  of  the  toboggan,  digging  their 
heels  into  the  snow,  and  in  this  way  they 
made  themselves  slow  up,  so  they  did  not  hit 
the  wheels.  Even  if  they  had  done  so  no 
harm  would  have  resulted,  because  the 
wheels  had  large  rubber  tires  on  them,  and 
the  front  of  the  toboggan  came  up  in  a  big 
curve. 

Soon  they  were  going  uphill  again,  and 
the  boys  did  not  have  to  "put  on  brakes." 
But  as  Uncle  Toby  made  the  automobile  go 
a  bit  faster,  when  they  were  near  his  cabin, 
he  and  the  girls  suddenly  heard  laughing 
shouts  from  the  boys  behind  them. 

1 '  Oh,  something  has  happened ! ' '  exclaimed 
Jan,  looking  out  of  the  rear  window  of  the 
closed  car. 

"They've  fallen  off!"  added  Mary.  "I 
hope  they  aren't  hurt!" 

"Can't  be  much  hurt,  falling  off  in  the 


The  Snow  House  189 

snow,"  laughed  Uncle  Toby,  as  he  brought 
the  car  to  a  stop,  got  out,  and  went  back,  fol- 
lowed by  the  girls.  The  toboggan  had 
turned  upside  down,  but  was  not  damaged. 
The  boys,  laughing  so  joyously  that  they 
could  hardly  walk,  were  coming  along,  cov- 
covered  with  snow. 

"What  happened?"  Uncle  Toby  wanted 
to  know. 

"Oh,  the  toboggan  struck  a  big  lump  of 
snow  in  the  middle  of  the  road  and  turned 
right  over.  It  spilled  us  off!"  explained 
Ted. 

' i  But  it  was  fun ! ' '  added  Harry.  And  so 
it  was. 

"Well,  we're  almost  there.  Better  walk 
the  rest  of  the  way,"  advised  Uncle  Toby. 
"Take  the  toboggan  off  and  pull  it." 

This  was  done,  two  of  the  boys  taking 
turns  pulling  the  third  over  the  short  dis- 
tance remaining. 

"And  now  for  some  real  tobogganing!" 
cried  Ted,  as  the  cabin  was  reached. 

Uncle  Toby,  however,  would  not  let  the 
children  go  down  alone  for  the  first  few 
times.  He  wanted  to  be  sure  the  boys  knew 
how  to  manage  the  big  sled,  which,  though 
large,  was  very  light,  as  all  toboggans  are, 


190     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

and  thus  are  much  safer  than  a  sled  with 
steel  runners. 

There  was  a  long,  but  not  too  steep,  hill 
near  the  cabin,  and  the  Curlytops  and  their 
playmates  were  soon  at  the  top  of  this,  with 
Uncle  Toby  and  the  toboggan. 

"All  aboard!"  called  Mr.  Bardeen,  and 
they  took  their  places  on  the  cushion,  hold- 
ing to  the  hand  rails.  Trouble  was  not  al- 
lowed to  go  down  the  first  time,  but  Aunt 
Sallie  had  all  she  could  do  to  keep  him  with 
her  as  she  stood  at  the  top  of  the  slope  watch- 
ing the  coasting  party. 

"You  shall  soon  have  a  ride,  Trouble," 
Aunt  Sallie  promised.  "As  soon  as  the  hill 
is  made  a  little  smooth." 

"All  ready?"  cried  Uncle  Toby. 

"Let's  got"  cried  Ted. 

Uncle  Toby  gave  a  push  with  his  foot, 
which  he  had  thrust  out  behind  to  steer  with, 
and  down  the  snow-covered  hill  went  the 
toboggan  with  its  happy  load.  They  did  not 
go  very  fast  on  this  first  trip,  as  the  snow 
needed  to  be  packed  down  smooth  and  hard. 
But  after  the  second  or  third  voyage  the  to- 
boggan moved  more  swiftly. 

"Do  you  like  it  Mary?"  asked  Janet. 


The  Snow  House  191 

"Oh,  I  just  love  it!"  cried  the  other,  with 
shining  eyes. 

Uncle  Toby,  finding  that  everything  was 
safe,  allowed  the  boys,  one  after  another,  to 
try  steering  the  light,  wooden  sled.  Find- 
ing that  they  could  manage  all  right,  he  let 
them  have  charge  of  the  toboggan,  and  at 
last  Trouble  was  allowed  to  coast  down,  sit- 
ting between  Lola  and  Janet. 

Of  course  Trouble  wanted  to  take  his 
turn  at  steering  with  the  other  boys,  but 
that  was  out  of  the  question,  even  though  he 
teased  very  much.  It  would  not  have  been 
safe,  of  course. 

And  such  fun  as  the  Curlytops  and  their 
playmates  had!  The  toboggan  was  much 
better  than  a  sled,  and  safer,  even  though 
it  went  faster.  It  was  almost  like  flying 
with  the  snowbirds,  Lola  said. 

Of  course  there  were  little  accidents  and 
upsets.  Once,  when  Harry  was  steering, 
the  toboggan  turned  completely  around 
when  half  way  down  the  hill  and  began  slid- 
ing backward.  And  as  the  back  end  was 
blunt,  having  no  curve  to  slip  easily  over  the 
snow,  there  was  a  turnover,  and  the  children 
were  spilled  all  the  way  down  the  hill. 


192     The  Curlytops  atid  Their  Playmates 

But  they  never  minded  that,  only  rolling 
over  and  over  to  the  bottom,  or  nearly  there, 
laughing  and  shouting  meanwhile.  It  was 
fun  for  Skyrocket,  too,  the  dog  leaping  here 
and  there,  barking  and  chasing  snowballs 
which  the  girls  threw  for  him  to  race  after. 

Once  they  took  Skyrocket  down  on  the 
toboggan  with  them,  or,  rather,  they  took 
him  half  way,  for  midway  on  the  hill  Sky- 
rocket decided  he  didn't  like  that  way  of 
traveling,  and  with  a  howl  he  leaped  off.  It 
was  too  swift  for  him,  I  suppose. 

But  the  children  had  great  delight  in  it, 
and  would  have  kept  on  with  the  toboggan 
fun  all  day  if  Uncle  Toby  had  let  them. 
He  did  not  want  them  to  get  too  tired,  how- 
ever, nor  did  Aunt  Sallie  want  Trouble  to 
stay  out  in  the  cold  too  long,  though  he  was 
a  sturdy  little  chap. 

After  lunch,  when  Trouble  was  having 
his  usual  nap,  Lola  and  Jan  said  they  would 
like  to  try  steering  the  toboggan,  and  Uncle 
Toby  said  they  might. 

"Well,  we  fellows  won't  ride  if  you  girls 
steer, ' '  declared  Ted.  * '  You  'd  upset  us  first 
shot." 

"Pooh!  You  don't  need  to  ride!"  laughed 
Janet.  "We  can  do  better  without  you." 


The  Snow  House  193 

The  girls  learned  to  steer,  after  a  lesson  or 
two  from  Uncle  Toby.  Even  timid  Mary 
managed  to  do  quite  well,  though  Janet  and 
Lola,  being  more  used  to  outdoor  life  in  the 
country,  did  better  than  Mary.  The  girls 
had  their  little  accidents,  too,  upsetting 
more  than  once,  but  they  did  not  mind  this. 

For  several  days,  while  the  snow  lasted, 
the  Curlytops  and  their  friends  had  fun  in 
the  snow.  The  weather  was  bright  and 
sunny,  and  not  too  co'ld.  One  day  Janet, 
going  out  to  the  kitchen  where  Aunt  Sallie 
was  busy,  found  the  table  covered  with 
packages  and  bundles  that  Uncle  Toby  had 
brought  from  the  village  store. 

" What's  going  on?"  asked  Janet. 

" Thanksgiving  will  soon  be  going  on," 
answered  Aunt  Sallie.  "I  must  get  my 
mincemeat  made,  and  do  a  lot  of  planning 
for  the  big  family  I  expect  to  have  at 
dinner." 

"Oh,  I  didn't  know  Thanksgiving  was  so 
near!"  exclaimed  Janet.  At  first  she  was 
joyous,  and  then  a  little  feeling  of  sadness 
came  to  her.  This  would  be  the  first 
Thanksgiving  she  remembered  when  daddy 
and  mother  were  not  present.  The  other 
children,  too,  when  they  were  told  about  the 


194      The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

coming  feast  at  Uncle  Toby's  cabin,  looked 
a  little  serious  when  they  realized  that  none 
of  their  grown-ups1  would  be  with  them. 
Of  course  Mary  and  Harry  did  not  expect 
this,  for  they  knew  their  mother  could  not 
come  from  the  hospital  for  a  long  time,  and 
as  for  their  father — they  had  given  him  up 
as  dead,  long  ago. 

"But  maybe  daddy  and  mother  will  be 
here  for  Christmas!"  said  Janet. 

"Maybe!"  agreed  Ted. 

"I'm  going  to  write  and  ask  our  father 
and  mother  to  come  here  for  Christmas. 
May  I,  Uncle  Toby?"  asked  Lola,  for  in 
common  with  the  Curlytops  she  called  Mr. 
Bardeen  by  this  name. 

"Of  course!"  Uncle  Toby  answered. 
"The  more  the  merrier!  And  if  your 
mother  is  able  to  come  from  the  hospital, 
we'll  have  her  here  for  Christmas,"  and  he 
.nodded  at  Mary  and  Story.  This  made 
that  boy  and  girl  very  happy,  for  it  is  often 
happiness  just  to  think  of  something  pleas- 
ant that  may  happen. 

One  morning,  several  days  after  the  first 
of  the  toboggan  riding,  the  boys,  who  had 
gotten  up  ahead  of  the  girls  for  once,  began 
shouting  outside  the  cabin. 


The  Snow  House  195 

" What's  going  on,  I  wonder ?"  asked 
Janet. 

"Oh,  I  guess  they're  just  yelling  for  the 
fun  of  it,"  answered  Lola. 

"They're  saying  something  about  a 
house,"  said  Mary. 

Janet  raised  the  window  and  listened. 
Just  then  Ted  shouted: 

"Come  on  out,  girls,  and  help  us  build 
a  snow  house.  We're  going  to  make  the 
biggest  snow  house  you  ever  saw!" 

"And  when  it's  finished  you  can  have  a 
tea  party  in  it,"  added  Tom. 

"Oh,  what  lovely  fun  that  will  be!"  cried 
Mary. 

Soon  the  boys  and  girls,  with  Skyrocket 
frolicking  around  them,  began  making  the 
snow  house.  The  sun  had  so  warmed  the 
snow  that  it  packed  well. 

First  a  number  of  big  snowballs  were 
rolled  and  placed  one  after  the  other  in  the 
form  of  a  square  on  the  ground.  This  was 
to  be  the  foundation  of  the  house. 

Other  snowballs  were  lifted  on  top  of  the 
first  large  ones,  and  snow  packed  in  the 
cracks  until,  when  afternoon  came,  there 
were  four  walls  of  snow,  much  higher  than 
the  heads  of  the  children. 


196     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

"It  looks  more  like  a  fort  than  a  snow 
house,"  said  Lola. 

" We've  got  to  put  the  roof  on,"  Tom 
answered.  "How  we  going  to  do  that, 
Ted?" 

1 '  I  don 't  know, ' '  was  the  reply.  * '  I  never 
made  such  a  big  snow  house.  If  we  make 
the  roof  only  of  snow  it  will  fall  in  on  us." 

"You'd  better  ask  Uncle  Toby,"  sug- 
gested Janet,  and  this  they  did. 

"I'll  show  you  how  to  make  a  good  roof," 
Uncle  Toby  told  the  children.  ' '  Just  get  me 
a  lot  of  poles  from  that  pile  over  there.  I 
used  them  to  raise  beans  this  summer. 
Bring  me  a  lot  of  those  long  poles." 

The  children  ran  to  carry  them  to  him, 
wondering  how  Uncle  Toby  could  make 
a  roof  on  a  snow  house  out  of  poles. 


OTHER    SNOWBALLS    WERE    LIFTED    ON    TOP    OF    THE    FIRST 

LARGE  ONES. 
"The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates"  Pase  195 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THANKSGIVING 

PERHAPS  if  the  Curlytops  and  their  play- 
mates had  thought  about  it  a  little  harder 
they  might  have  guessed  how  Uncle  Toby 
intended  to  make  the  roof  of  their  snow 
house  with  the  bean  poles.  It  was  very 
simple. 

When  the  boys  and  girls  had  brought  a 
number  of  the  long,  thin  poles  to  him,  Uncle 
Toby  took  the  poles,  one  at  a  time,  and  laid 
them  carefully  across  the  tops  of  the  white 
walls.  Each  end  of  the  pole  rested  on  the 
wall,  and  when  all  were  in  place,  laid  close 
together,  there  was  the  beginning  of  the 
roof. 

"But  it's  full  of  holes,"  objected  Ted,  as 
he  went  in  through  the  doorway  that  had 
been  left,  and,  looking  up,  could  see  the  sky 
in  between  the  spaces  of  the  poles. 

[Yes,  of  course  it's  full  of  holes/'  laughed 


198     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

Uncle  Toby.  "  All  you  have  to  do  is  to  plas- 
ter some  snow  in  the  cracks,  and  then  cover 
the  poles  with  more  snow  and  you'll  have 
a  roof  to  your  house  that  won't  fall  in  on 
you." 

"Why,  how  easy!"  cried  Tom.  "It's  a 
wonder  we  didn't  think  of  that  ourselves." 

"You'll  know  how  next  time,"  replied 
Uncle  Toby.  "Bring  a  few  more  poles." 

This  the  children  did,  even  Trouble  drag- 
ging over  some  of  the  smallest  ones  from 
the  pile.  Then  the  roof  was  ready  for  its 
coating  of  snow,  and  the  children  began 
tossing  it  on  with  their  hands  and  from 
shovels. 

At  first  the  snow  dropped  through  some 
of  the  larger  cracks  between  the  poles,  but 
these  were  soon  filled,  and  then  a  solid  mass 
of  white  was  spread  over  the  roof  of  the 
snow  house. 

"I'm  going  to  see  if  I  can't  plaster  some 
snow  over  the  poles  from  inside,  so  they 
won't  show,"  decided  Ted,  when  the  outside 
top  of  the  roof  was  finished.  "Then  it  will 
look  like  a  solid  snow  roof." 

The  other  boys  helped  with  this,  but  it  was 
not  as  easy  as  they  had  thought  it  would  be. 
For  often  after  they  had  stuck  a  handful  of 


Thanksgiving  199 


snow  on  the  ceiling  inside,  it  would  fall 
down,  once  or  twice  right  in  their  faces. 

But  at  last  they  had  the  inside  poles  pretty 
well  plastered  over  with  snow,  and  the  house 
was  finished.  There  was  a  doorway,  and 
two  windows,  and  over  the  door  a  blanket 
was  hung.  Uncle  Toby  put  some  sheets  of 
ice  in  the  windows,  and  they  looked  just  like 
glass. 

"Oh,  this  is  the  nicest  snow  house  I  ever 
saw!"  cried  Janet. 

"It's  like  a  fairy  one!"  exclaimed  Mary. 
"I  never  dreamed  of  one  so  nice  as  this." 

"It's  the  best  one  we  ever  made,"  said 
Ted,  and  the  other  boys  agreed  with  him. 

But  the  fun  was  only  beginning.  The 
girls  had  been  promised,  if  they  helped  with 
the  making  of  the  snow  house,  that  they 
could  have  a  play  party  in  it  for  themselves 
and,  if  they  chose,  their  dolls. 

"We'll  ask  Aunt  Sallie  for  something  to 
eat  and  have  the  play  party  now,"  decided 
Janet,  when  some  boxes  had  been  put  in  the 
snow  house  to  serve  as  tables  and  chairs. 

"Will  the  dolls  eat  everything?"  asked 
Tom,  with  a  smile. 

"What  do  you  mean — eat  everything?" 
his  sister  wanted  to  kncfw. 


200     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

"I  mean  will  there  be  anything  left  for 
us?"  and  Tom  winked  at  the  other  boys. 

"Oh,  I  guess  Aunt  Sallie  will  give  enough 
for  everybody,"  said  Janet,  and  Aunt  Sallie 
did. 

As  she  was  getting  ready  for  Thanks- 
giving, there  was  plenty  to  eat  in  Uncle 
Toby's  bungalow,  and  soon  sandwiches  and 
cake,  and  a  tin  pail  full  of  hot  chocolate 
were  carried  out  to  the  snow  house. 

"It's  a  regular  picnic  in  the  snow!"  cried 
Mary,  in  delight.  "I  never  knew  anything 
as  nice  as  this." 

The  girls  took  their  dolls  out  to  the  snow 
house,  Mary  having  brought  hers  from 
home  with  her,  and  though  it  was  not  as 
well  dressed  or  as  costly  as  the  dolls  of 
Janet  or  Lola,  still  Mary  loved  her  "  child" 
just  as  much. 

Janet  wanted  to  make  Trouble  a  rag  doll 
to  play  with,  but  he  insisted  that  he  was  an 
"Indian,"  for  that  is  what  the  other  boys 
were  pretending  to  be. 

"An'  Injuns  don't  have  dolls!"  declared 
Trouble,  as  he  sat  on  a  box  in  the  snow  house 
and  sipped  his  warm  chocolate. 

For  two  or  three  days  the  children  played 


Thanksgiving  201 


in  the  snow  house,  the  weather  being  mild, 
so  that  it  was  quite  comfortable  in  the  white 
" igloo,"  as  Uncle  Toby  called  it.  The 
children  wanted  to  know  where  that  name 
came  from,  and  he  told  them  it  was  what 
the  Eskimos  of  the  Polar  regions  called 
their  egg-shape  huts  of  ice  and  snow. 

The  pole  roof  was  a  great  success,  for  it 
did  not  fall  in  on  the  heads  of  the  boys  and 
girls.  And  there  is  nothing  worse,  when  you 
are  having  fun  in  a  snow  house,  than  to 
have  the  roof  cave  in  on  you. 

Of  course  there  were  little  accidents, 
caused  by  the  snow  which  the  boys  had 
plastered  to  the  inside  of  the  poles.  More 
than  once  little  chunks  of  snow  fell,  but  they 
were  so  light  they  did  no  harm,  even  when 
they  hit  Janet  or  Lola  on  the  head. 

Once,  however,  just  as  Ted  was  lifting  a 
cup  of  chocolate  to  his  mouth,  a  chunk  of 
snow  fell  right  into  the  cup,  splashing  the 
chocolate  all  over  the  lad.  Luckily  it  was 
not  hot,  though  after  the  splashing  was  over 
Ted  looked  as  if  he  had  colored  himself  to 
take  part  in  a  minstrel  show. 

The  other  children  laughed,  and  so  did 
Ted,  after  his  first  surprise. 


202     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

" To-morrow  will  be  Thanksgiving!"  ex- 
claimed Lola  one  night,  as  they  hurried  in 
from  a  long  day  of  fun. 

"And  you  ought  to  see  the  hig  pile  of  good 
things  there  are  to  eat!"  exclaimed  Tom. 
"Oh,  boys!" 

"Aunt  Sallie  sure  has  cooked  a  lot !"  cried 
Ted. 

"The  most  I  ever  saw,"  added  Harry. 
"And  such  a  turkey!" 

"And  such  cranberry  sauce!"  sighed  his 
sister. 

"An'  there's  candy  an'  nuts  an' — an'  lots 
of  things ! ' '  added  Trouble.  "  It 's  mos '  like 
Ch'is'mus!" 

"Yes,  it  surely  is,"  agreed  Janet.  "Only 
I  hope  by  Christmas  we'll  have  daddy  and 
mother  here."  A  letter  had  come  from  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Martin  from  the  distant  city  where 
they  had  gone  to  see  about  the  money.  In 
the  letter  the  parents  of  the  Curlytops  said 
they  hoped  to  be  with  them  at  Christmas. 

The  father  and  mother  of  Tom  and  Lola 
had  also  written,  wishing  the  children  the 
joys  of  a  happy  Thanksgiving,  and  saying 
they  would  come  up  at  Christmas  with  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Martin. 

There  was  also  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Benton, 


Thanksgiving  203 


in  which  the  poor  woman  said  that  she  had 
been  operated  on,  and  was  much  better,  but 
added  that  she  would  have  to  be  under  the 
doctor's  care  and  in  the  hospital  some  time 
yet. 

" Anyhow,  it's  something  to  be  thankful 
for,"  said  Mary.  Her  brother  agreed  with 
her.  And  if  in  their  hearts  there  was  a 
little  sadness  because  they  had  no  father  to 
share  the  joys  of  the  holidays  with  them, 
they  kept  it  to  themselves. 

"We  all  have  lots  to  be  thankful  for," 
said  Aunt  Sallie,  when  the  feast  day  came. 
"Yes,  and  you  shall  have  something,  too," 
she  added  to  Skyrocket,  who  was  sniffing 
hungrily  at  the  kitchen  door. 

After  breakfast  Uncle  Toby  took  them  all 
to  the  village  church  in  the  automobile, 
though  of  course  Skyrocket  was  left  at  the 
cabin.  He  did  not  like  it  very  much,  either, 
and  howled  dismally  after  the  Curlytops. 

Home  they  drove,  through  the  crisp  air  of 
the  woods,  to  take  part  in  the  bountiful  feast 
that  was  ready  all  but  the  "finishing 
touches,"  as  Aunt  Sallie  called  them. 

And  such  a  feast  as  it  was!  Never  was 
there  such  a  browned  turkey!  Never  such 
jolly  red  mounds  of  cranberry  sauce,  almost 


204     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

like  jelly!  Never  such  crisp  celery!  And 
the  gravy  that  covered  the  heaping  plates 
that  the  children  had  passed  to  them! 
Surely  never  was  such  gravy  made! 

"Oh,  I  don't  believe  I  can  ever  eat  another 
thing!"  exclaimed  Mary,  when  Uncle  Toby 
asked  her  to  have  another  slice  of  turkey. 

"Hasn't  you  got  any  room  left?"  asked 
Trouble,  patting  his  own  little  stomach.  "I 
got  some  room.  I  saved  it  for  the  ice- 
cream!" he  added,  hoarsely  whispering  the 
last  word. 

"Oh,  is  there  ice-cream?"  asked  Janet. 
"I  didn't  know  you'd  made  any,  Aunt  Sal- 
lie." 

"It  isn't  exactly  ice-cream,"  answered 
Uncle  Toby's  housekeeper.  "It's  a  sort  of 
snow-cream  I  made,  but  maybe  you  children 
will  like  it." 

"Sure  we  will!"  cried  the  boys. 

"Will  you  have  it  now,  or  the  plum  pud- 
ding?" Aunt  Sallie  wanted  to  know. 

"Oh,  is  there  plum  pudding,  too?"  Janet 
asked,  in  surprise. 

"Yes,"  nodded  Aunt  Sallie.  "Nice,  hot 
plum  pudding!" 

"Let's  have  the  pudding  last,"  suggested 
Lola.  "The  snow-cream  will  make  us  cold 


Thanksgiving  205 


and  the  plum  pudding  will  make  us  warm, 
again. ' ' 

"A  good  idea,"  said  Uncle  Toby,  with  a 
laugh.  "I  hope  none  of  the  children  gets 
ill,"  he  thought  to  himself.  " Their  folks 
will  say  I  gave  them  too  much  Thanksgiving. 
But  they  look  all  right  now,"  he  added,  as 
he  scanned  the  happy  faces. 

Aunt  Sallie  served  the  snow-cream.  It 
was  rather  like  a  frozen  pudding,  being  made 
of  clean  snow  beaten  up  with  milk,  eggs, 
sugar,  and  flavoring  extract. 

The  children  made  away  with  this,  and 
then  Aunt  Sallie  went  to  the  kitchen  to  get 
the  hot  plum  pudding.  She  was  gone  a  few 
minutes  when  she  came  hurrying  back  into 
the  dining  room,  a  strange  look  on  her  face. 

"It's  gone!"  she  cried  to  Uncle  Toby. 

"What?"  he  asked. 

"The  plum  pudding!  Some  one  has 
taken  it!" 


CHAPTER  XIX 

SKYROCKET  IS  GONE 

UNCLE  TOBY  first  looked  around  the  table 
at  the  double  row  of  faces  of  the  children. 
All  showed  as  much  surprise  as  had  Aunt 
Sallie  when  she  had  corne  in  with  the  news 
about  the  pudding  being  gone.  At  first 
Uncle  Toby  had  an  idea  that  one  of  the  boys 
had  taken  the  dessert  for  a  joke,  hiding 
it  away  in  some  nook.  But  one  look  at 
the  faces  of  Tom,  Ted,  and  Harry 
showed  Uncle  Toby  that  this  had  not  hap- 
pened. 

11  Where  did  you  put  the  pudding,  Aunt 
Sallie?"  Uncle  Toby  wanted  to  know. 

"Right  inside  the  kitchen  pantry,  on  the 
back  shelf  near  the  window." 

1  'Was  the  window  open,  Aunt  Sallie?" 

"Just  a  little  crack,  yes,  Uncle  Toby.  I 
opened  it  when  I  set  the  pudding  near  it  so 
it  would  cool  a  little  before  the  children  ate 
it." 

206 


Skyrocket  is  Gone  207 

"That  accounts  for  it  then!"  exclaimed 
Mr.  Bardeen.  "Skyrocket  reached  in 
through  the  open  window  and  took  the  pud- 
ding!" 

There  was  a  gasp  of  surprise  from  the 
children  at  this,  and  Ted  exclaimed: 

"Oh,  it  couldn't  have  been  our  dog,  Uncle 
Toby !  He's  been  right  here  in  the  room  all 
the  while." 

"Yes,  that's  so,"  added  Aunt  Sallie. 
"And,  anyhow,  the  window  wasn't  open  wide 
enough  for  Skyrocket  to  get  his  head  in. 
He  couldn't  take  the  pudding  out  in  his  paw 
as  your  monkey  could  do." 

' '  Maybe  not, ' '  agreed  Uncle  Toby.  ' l  Any- 
how, I'm  glad  to  know  it  wasn't  Skyrocket, 
for  I  like  that  dog.  But  some  one  must  have 
taken  the  pudding,  Aunt  Sallie.  Unless  it 
slipped  out  of  the  window  itself,  and  went  off 
on  the  toboggan!" 

The  children  laughed  at  this  idea,  but 
Aunt  Sallie  took  it  seriously,  for  she  said: 

"Oh,  it  couldn't  do  that,  Uncle  Toby.  I 
mean  it  couldn't  slip  out  of  the  window," 
she  added,  as  the  Curlytops  laughed  again. 
"I  had  it  covered  with  a  tin  pan,  and  that's 
on  the  shelf,  but  the  pudding  is  gone  from 
under  it." 


208     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

"This  is  getting  mysterious,"  said  Uncle 
Toby.  "We  must  take  a  look  and  see 
about  it." 

"I'm  so  sorry,  for  I  wanted  the  children 
to  have  some  of  my  plum  pudding,"  went 
on  Aunt  Sallie. 

"Oh,  don't  worry  about  it,"  said  Lola. 
"We  had  plenty  to  eat." 

"Too  much,  I'm  afraid,"  chuckled  Uncle 
Toby.  "Maybe  it's  just  as  well  the  pud- 
ding is  missing.  The  children  will  sleep  bet- 
ter without  it,  Aunt  Sallie." 

"Oh,  'tisn't  so  much  the  pudding  that 
I  am  worried  about,"  went  on  the  kindly 
housekeeper,  in  a  whisper.  "It  is  that 
some  one  may  be  sneaking  around  here  tak- 
ing things." 

"Do  you  think  that  happened?"  asked 
Uncle  Toby.  The  children  had  run  into  the 
kitchen  to  look  at  the  window  through  which 
the  pudding  had  so  mysteriously  disap- 
peared, and  Uncle  Toby  and  Aunt  Salfie 
could  speak  freely. 

"Yes,  Uncle  Toby,  I  think  that  is  what 
happened,"  said  the  old  lady.  "Some 
tramp,  or  somebody,  must  have  been  sneak- 
ing around  your  cabin.  They  looked  in  the 
window,  saw  my  pudding,  and  took  it  while 


Skyrocket  is  Gone  209 

we  were  all  in  the  dining  room.  'Tisn't  so 
much  that  I  mind  the  pudding;  that  is,  if 
it  was  taken  by  some  one  really  hungry. 
For  this  is  Thanksgiving,  and  I  wouldn't 
want  any  one  to  go  hungry.  But  if  they 
had  knocked  at  the  door  and  asked  for  some- 
thing to  eat  I'd  have  given  it  to  them,  and 
then  the  pudding  would  be  safe.  What  are 
we  going  to  do?" 

"I  don't  know,"  answered  Uncle  Toby, 
as  he  and  Aunt  Sallie  followed  the  children. 
"We  never  had  any  tramps  in  these  woods. 
Maybe  it's  that  queer  man  we  saw  over  in 
Newt  Baker's  old  shack.  He  may  be  a 
hungry  tramp." 

"Well,  something  ought  to  be  done  about 
it,"  declared  Aunt  Sallie.  "I  won't  feel 
safe  with  such  people  roaming  the  woods." 

"Maybe  when  I  look  in  the  snow  under  the 
window  I'll  see  the  paw  marks  of  a  bear,)? 
suggested  Uncle  Toby. 

"What  would  that  mean?"  asked  Aunt 
Sallie,  rather  startled. 

"It  would  mean  that  a  bear  came  up,  put 
his  paws  in  through  the  window,  knocked 
the  pan  cover  off  and  took  the  pudding,"  was 
the  answer. 

"Well,  I'm  not  so  much  afraid  of  bears  as 


210      The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

I  am  of  tramps/'  said  Aunt  Sallie,  with  a, 
smile.  "I  almost  wish  it  was  a  bear!" 

But  it  was  not.  In  the  light  covering  of 
newly  fallen  snow  under  the  pantry  window, 
through  which  the  pudding  had  been  taken, 
were  the  marks  of  a  man's  feet.  Big  feet 
they  were,  with  heavy  shoes,  for  the  prints 
of  the  hob  nails  could  be  seen  in  the  snow. 

Uncle  Toby  looked  at  the  marks  for 
several  minutes.  He  and  Aunt  Sallie  and 
the  children  could  see  where  the  man,  who- 
ever he  was,  had  come  out  of  the  woods, 
walked  up  to  the  open  window,  and,  after 
standing  about  and  tramping  to  and  fro,  had 
marched  back  to  the  woods  again. 

"It  looks  as  if  he  came  here,  looked  in, 
saw  the  pudding,  and  started  away  without 
taking  it,"  said  Uncle  Toby,  as  he  looked 
closely  at  the  big  footprints  in  the  snow. 
"Then  he  turned  back,  because  he  was  so 
hungry  he  just  couldn't  leave  that  pudding 
there  in  plain  sight,  I  suppose.  He  took  it 
and  went  back  to  the  woods  with  it  to  eat 
it." 

"Who  was  he?"  asked  Tom. 

"That  I  don't  know,"  Uncle  Toby  re- 
plied. "He  must  be  a  stranger  around  here, 
for  anybody  else  would  ask  for  something 


Skyrocket  is  Gone  211 

to  eat  if  he  were  hungry.  And  most  of 
the  folks  around  here  are  well  enough  off 
to  get  their  own  Thanksgiving  dinner. 
They  don't  have  to  take  other  folks'  pud- 
ding. " 

"That's  so,"  said  Aunt  Sallie.  "I  wish 
it  hadn't  happened,  even  though  I  don't 
mind  a  poor  hungry  man  having  my  nice 
pudding." 

"Is  your  dog  a  bloodhound  ?"  asked  Harry 
of  Ted,  as  the  boys  remained  looking  at  the 
footprints  in  the  snow,  after  the  girls  had 
gone  back  into  the  house  with  Aunt  Sallie. 

"Oh,  no,  Skyrocket  isn't  a  bloodhound," 
answered  Ted.  "Why?" 

"Well,  I  thought  maybe  if  he  was  he  could 
smell  at  these  marks  in  the  snow  and  then 
track  the  man  to  where  he  was  and  we  could 
get  back  the  pudding,"  Harry  went  on. 

"Guess  there  wouldn't  be  much  of  the 
pudding  left,"  said  Tom,  with  a  laugh. 

"No,"  agreed  Ted.  "Anyhow,  Skyrocket 
isn't  a  bloodhound,  and  I  don't  believe  he'd 
know  how  to  track  a  man  down." 

And  evidently  Skyrocket  didn't  take  much 
interest  in  the  strange  footprints  in  the 
snow,  for,  after  sniffing  them  once  or  twice, 
he  raced  away  to  chase  a  snowbird  which 


212     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

flew  down  to  get  the  crumbs  Aunt  Sallie 
scattered  from  the  dinner  table.  Of  course 
Skyrocket  couldn't  catch  or  harm  the  snow- 
bird, and  he  knew  it,  but  he  loved  to  race 
about  and  bark. 

"No  use  trying  to  get  him  to  follow  a 
trail,"  said  Tom.  "He's  too  crazy!  A 
good  dog,  but  too  crazy!" 

"That's  right!"  assented  Ted. 

Uncle  Toby,  having  listened  to  the  talk  of 
the  boys,  went  back  into  the  cabin,  and  soon 
came  out  with  his  heavy  overcoat  and  cap 
on. 

"Where  are  you  going?"  asked  Ted. 

"Oh,  just  down  to  the  village.  You  boys 
stay  here  and  look  after  things  until  I  get 
back,"  was  the  answer. 

The  boys  watched  Uncle  Toby  strike  into 
the  path  and  theii  Tom  exclaimed: 

"I  know  where  he's  going!" 

"Where?"  asked  Ted. 

"He's  either  going  to  trail  that  man  by 
his  footprints — the  man  who  took  the  pud- 
ding," declared  Tom,  "or  else  he's  going  to 
get  a  constable,  or  somebody  like  a  police- 
man." 

"Maybe  he's  gone  to  get  a  bloodhound 
if  your  dog  isn't  any  good  for  smelling  out 


Skyrocket  is  Gone  218 

people,"  suggested  Harry.  All  the  boys 
were  gleefully  excited  over  what  might 
happen. 

"I  wish  he'd  let  us  go  with  him,"  sighed 
Ted.  But  he  did  not  think  it  wise  to  ask, 
and  Uncle  Toby  went  off  by  himself. 

The  remainder  of  Thanksgiving  was 
passed  by  the  Curlytops  and  their  playmates 
having  holiday  fun.  They  played  out  in  the 
snow,  spent  some  time  in  the  snow  house, 
and  coasted  on  the  toboggan. 

Uncle  Toby  came  back  before  dusk,  but 
where  he  had  been  and  what  he  had  done 
or  found  out,  he  did  not  disclose  to  Aunt 
Sallie  or  the  children. 

"Will  you  lock  up  /well  to-night,  Uncle 
Toby?"  asked  Aunt  Sallie,  when  the  bed- 
time hour  approached.  She  asked  this  out 
of  the  hearing  of  the  children. 

"Of  course  I'll  lock  up  well.  I  do  every 
night,"  Uncle  Toby  replied,  with  a  laugh. 
"Are  you  afraid  that  bear  who  tbok  the 
pudding  will  try  to  get  in?" 

"Maybe,"  answered  Aunt  Sallie.  "Any- 
how, please  lock  all  the  doors  and  windows." 

"I  will,"  said  Uncle  Toby.  "But  I  guess 
Skyrocket  will  be  a  good  watchdog  during 
the  night.  We  don't  need  to  worry." 


214     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

The  children  did  not  worry,  at  all  events. 
They  did  not  seem  to  miss  the  plum  pud- 
ding, and  after  a  light  supper,  on  account 
of  the  heavy  dinner  they  had  eaten,  and  hav- 
ing played  some  games  in  the  cabin,  they 
went  to  sleep. 

Uncle  Toby  locked  up  well,  and  left  Sky- 
rocket in  the  kitchen  for  the  night. 

"If  any  bears  come  in  or  any  tramps  try 
to  take  any  more  of  Aunt  Sallie's  good 
things,  you  grab  'em  and  hold  'em,  Sky!" 
commanded  Uncle  Toby. 

The  dog  barked  once,  as  if  to  say  he  would. 

The  night  appeared  to  pass  quietly,  though 
once  Uncle  Toby  thought  he  heard  Sky- 
rocket barking  in  the  kitchen.  Getting  out 
of  his  bed,  Uncle  Toby  called : 

"Who's  in  the  kitchen?  Is  everything 
all  right?" 

There  was  no  answer,  not  even  a  bark 
from  the  dog,  and  Uncle  Toby  thought  he 
had  been  mistaken  about  hearing  a  noise. 

"And  I  guess  Skyrocket  is  asleep,"  he 
added. 

In  the  morning  Tom  and  Ted  came  down 
earlier  than  any  of  the  others,  for  they  had 
an  idea  that  they  could  build  a  little  house 
of  pieces  of  carpet  on  the  toboggan  and 


Skyrocket  is  Gone  215 

coast  while  inside  it.  They  wanted  to  try 
out  this  idea  before  Uncle  Toby  should  say 
it  was  too  risky. 

"Here,  Sky!  Sky!"  called  Ted,  as  he 
walked  toward  the  kitchen. 

There  was  no  joyous,  answering  bark, 
and  when  the  door  was  pushed  open  no  dog 
ran  to  greet  his  young  master. 

Skyrocket  was  gone! 


CHAPTER  XX 

TROUBLE  IS  MISSING 

HARRY  came  into  the  kitchen  to  join  his 
chums,  and  when  he  heard  that  Skyrocket 
was  gone  he  and  the  other  two  boys  made 
such  a  noise  calling  and  whistling  for  the 
missing  dog  that  Uncle  Toby  asked: 

"What's  the  matter  out  there?" 

"Skyrocket's  gone!"  explained  Ted. 
'    "Well,  that's  all  right,"  said  Uncle  Toby. 
"I  suppose  he  went  out  early  to  get  up  an 
appetite  for  breakfast." 

"But  how  could  he  get  out,  Uncle  Toby?" 
asked  Ted,  as  Mr.  Bardeen  came  into  the 
kitchen  where  the  dog  had  been  put  for  the 
night.  "How  could  he  get  out?  There 
isn't  a  door  or  window  open,  and  he  hasn't 
jumped  through  any  of  the  window  glass, 
as  he  did  once  to  get  to  me  when  he  was  shut 
up  by  mistake." 

"Hum!"  murmured  Uncle  Toby,  thought- 
fully. "Are  you  sure  he's  gone,  Ted?" 

"Well,  he  isn't  around  and  he  doesn't 

216 


Trouble  is  Missing  217 

come  when  I  call  him,"  the  boy  answered. 
"He  must  be  gone." 

Jan  and  the  other  girls  now  came  into  the 
kitchen,  and  soon  Aunt  Sallie  had  Trouble 
dressed,  so  the  whole  family  was  up.  That 
is  all  but  Skyrocket,  and  he  surely  was  one 
of  the  family. 

" What's  the  matter?"  asked  Jan,  for  she 
knew  that  there  was  something  wrong.  And 
when  Ted  told  her  about  Skyrocket  being 
gone,  tears  came  into  Jan's  eyes.  Seeing 
this,  Uncle  Toby  knew  what  he  had  to  do 
to  keep  the  children  contented  and  happy 
while  on  their  holiday  stay  with  him  at 
Crystal  Lake. 

"Look  here,  boys  and  girls,"  he  said, 
"Skyrocket  isn't  lost.  He  has  just  run  out 
somewhere.  He  '11  be  back  soon.  Don 't  feel 
too  bad  about  him.  It  isn't  the  first  time 
he  has  run  away,  is  it,  Ted?" 

"No,  Uncle  Toby.  But  how  did  he  get 
out  to  run  away?  That's  what  I  want  to 
know.  There  isn't  a  door  or  window  open. 
The  cabin  was  shut  tight  last  night  after 
Skyrocket  was  in." 

"That's  what  we  think,"  said  Uncle  Toby. 
"But  some  door  or  window  may  have  been 
left  open  by  mistake,  and  Skyrocket  may 


218     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

have  got  out  that  way  and  be  roaming  in  the 
woods,  having  a  good  time.  Don't  you  often 
find,  Aunt  Sallie?"  asked  Uncle  Toby,  "that 
you  forget  to  shut  a  door  or  window,  and 
later  in  the  night  get  up  to  close  it?" 

As  Mr.  Bardeen  asked  this  question  of 
his  housekeeper  he  winked  one  eye  at  her — 
an  eye  the  children  could  not  see.  Uncle 
Toby  wanted  Aunt  Sallie  to  say  "yes"  to 
his  question,  and  she,  knowing  the  little 
trick  he  was  trying  to  play,  did  as  he  wanted 
her  to. 

"There,  you  are!"  exclaimed  Uncle  Toby 
to  the  children.  "Aunt  Sallie  or  I  may 
have  left  a  door  or  window  open,  after  you 
young  folks  went  to  bed,  and  Sky  may  have 
gotten  out  that  way.  Then  we  might  have 
closed  it,  locking  him  out." 

"Oh,  do  you  think  it  could  have  happened 
that  way?"  asked  Ted. 

"Of  course  it  could !"  replied  Uncle  Toby, 
but  he  did  not  really  say  that  it  had  hap- 
pened like  that.  In  fact  Uncle  Toby  knew 
it  had  not  happened  this  way.  He  felt 
pretty  sure  that  some  one  had  come  in  the 
night  and  stolen  Skyrocket  away,  but  he  did 
not  want  to  tell  the  Curlytops  this  for  fear 
of  making  them  afraid. 


Trouble  is  Missing  219 

"Well,  if  Skyrocket  has  just  run  away 
he'll  run  back  again, "  said  Ted. 

"Yes,  he  will,  for  he's  done  it  before," 
added  Janet.  , 

Then  the  children  felt  better,  and  sat  down 
to  breakfast.  But  when  Uncle  Toby  had  a 
chance  to  speak  quietly  to  Aunt  Sallie  he 
said: 

"Don't  say  anything  to  the  children,  but 
I  think  some  tramp — maybe  the  same  one 
who  took  your  plum  pudding — came  in  the 
night  and  stole  Skyrocket." 

"But  why  would  a  tramp  want  Sky- 
rocket 1"  asked  Aunt  Sallie. 

"Perhaps  he  thought  we  would  pay  money 
to  get  the  dog  back — as  I  will  do  if  he  doesn't 
come  back  himself,"  said  Uncle  Toby. 
"You  can't  tell  what  a  tramp  would  do. 
Anyhow,  I  know  we  didn't  leave  any  doors 
or  windows  open.  I  just  said  that  to  quiet 
the  children.  I  feel  sure  Skyrocket  has 
been  stolen  by  a  tramp." 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it,  Uncle 
Toby?" 

"I'm  going  to  get  Jim  Nelson  and  some 
of  the  lumbermen  around  here  and  have  a 
look  around.  For  one  place,  we'll  go  to 
that  old  cabin  of  Newt  Baker's,  which  we 


220     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

saw  the  man  running  away  from  that  day. 
Maybe  he's  the  tramp  who  took  Skyrocket 
and  also  your  plum  pudding." 

"Dear  me!"  exclaimed  Aunt  Sallie,  with 
a  frightened  look  over  her  shoulder. 

" Don't  be  afraid!"  laughed  Uncle  Toby. 
"Nothing  will  happen.  But  I  don't  want 
the  children's  fun  spoiled.  So  let  them 
think  Skyrocket  just  wandered  away  and 
will  come  back  again." 

But  Skyrocket  did  not  come  back  that  day 
nor  the  next  nor  the  next.  Back  home  in 
Cresco  he  had  often  stayed  away  a  week  at 
a  time,  Jan  said,  so  after  she  and  her  brother 
had  gotten  used  to  the  idea  that  the  dog  was 
off  on  one  of  his  wandering  trips,  they  no 
longer  worried. 

Uncle  Toby  got  some  of  the  lumbermen 
and  went  to  the  cabin,  but  though  they  found 
the  footprints  of  men  and  dogs  in  the  snow, 
no  one  was  now  in  the  old  shack,  and  there 
was  no  way  of  telling  whether  the  dog's  foot- 
prints were  those  of  Skyrocket. 

"Well,  I  guess  that  tramp  cleared  out," 
said  Uncle  Toby  to  Aunt  Sallie.  "And  he 
may  have  taken  Skyrocket  with  him.  But 
don  Jt  say  anything  to  the  Curlytops.  Christ- 
mas is  coming,  and  we  want  them  to  have  a 


Trouble  is  Missing  221 

good  time.  And  Skyrocket  may  come 
back." 

But  the  dog  did  not.  Two  weeks  went  by 
and  he  had  not  returned.  By  this  time  Ted 
and  Janet  had  rather  gotten  accustomed  to 
missing  him,  and  though  they  felt  very 
sorry,  they  were  having  so  much  fun  that 
they  thought  of  little  else.  For  surely  there 
were  good  times  at  Uncle  Toby's! 

The  plan  of  the  boys  to  put  up  a  little 
carpet  house  on  the  big  toboggan  coaster 
did  not  work.  They  tried  it,  without  tell- 
ing Uncle  Toby  anything  about  it,  and  this 
is  what  happened. 

First  Tom,  Ted,  and  Harry  fastened  some 
beanpoles  upright  on  the  toboggan.  They 
tied  them  tightly  with  cords  so  they  were 
fairly  solid.  In  the  barn  they  found  some 
pieces  of  carpet  and  a  few  old  feed  bags, 
left  from  the  time  that  Uncle  Toby  kept  a 
horse  out  at  Crystal  Lake,  and  by  tying 
these  bags  together,  after  ripping  them 
open,  they  made  a  large  piece  of  cloth,  big 
enough  for  a  tent.  This  they  fastened  on 
the  beanpoles  that  were  tied  to  the  tobog- 
gan, also  using  some  carpet  strips. 

"Now  we've  got  a  regular  little  house  on 
it,  and  we  can  sit  inside  and  coast  down- 


222     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

hill  and  be  nice  and  warm,!"  exclaimed  Ted. 

That  was  his  idea  and  that  of  the  other 
boys.  Three  of  them  could  get  inside  the 
toboggan-tent  at  a  time,  and  the  rear  lad 
could  stick  his  foot  out  through  a  hole  in  the 
bag  covering  a  steer. 

Without  telling  Uncle  Toby  anything 
about  it,  and  saying  nothing  to  the  girls,  the 
boys  drew  this  new  invention  of  theirs  out 
on  the  coasting  hill  one  morning.  Tom  and 
Harry  took  their  places  toward  the  front 
of  the  toboggan,  inside  the  tent.  There  was 
a  hole  in  the  bagging  so  they  could  look  out. 
Ted  sat  behind  to  steer. 

"All  ready?"  he  asked  his  chums. 

"Let  her  go!"  cried  Tom. 

Ted  pushed  off,  and  for  a  little  way  the 
toboggan  went  down  the  hill  all  right.  The 
boys  were  laughing  and  shouting,  for  it  was 
fun  to  coast  inside  a  tent  that  kept  off  the 
cold  wind. 

"It's  like  riding  in  a  closed  auto!"  yelled 
Tom. 

But  just  then  something  happened.  The 
toboggan  struck  a  lump  of  ice  on  the  hill, 
slued  around,  though  Ted  did  his  best  to 
steer  it,  and  began  going  sideways. 

Just  then  the  three  girls,  with  Trouble, 


Trouble  is  Missing  223 

came  out  to  see  what  the  boys  were  doing, 
and  seeing  the  strange  tent-covered  tobog- 
gan going  downhill  sideways  Janet,  Lola, 
and  Mary,  all  three,  screamed,  while  Trouble 
yelled  in  delight,  as  he  always  did  at  any- 
thing new  or  strange. 

Ted  declared  afterward  that  the  girls' 
screams  made  him  steer  crooked,  but  in  the 
girls'  opinion  the  toboggan  would  have  up- 
set anyhow.  And  that's  what  it  did. 

Over  it  turned,  when  half  way  down  the 
hill.  The  bean  poles  snapped  and  broke, 
and  a  moment  later  the  boys  were  tangled  up 
in  the  pieces  of  carpet  and  bagging,  rolling 
off  the  toboggan  which  coasted  the  rest  of 
the  way  downhill  by  itself,  and  probably 
it  was  very  glad  to  be  rid  of  the  tent-house. 

"Oh,  are  you  hurt?"  cried  Jan,  as  she 
saw  the  tangled  mass  of  boys. 

"Ill  call  Uncle  Toby!"  exclaimed  Lola. 

"Oh,  what  a  dreadful  accident!"  wailed 
Mary. 

But  an  instant  later  the  boys  jumped  up, 
laughing,  not  in  the  least  hurt,  though  they 
were  disappointed  because  their  invention 
did  not  work. 

"Don't  try  any  more  tricks  like  that," 
said  Uncle  Toby,  when  he  heard  what  had 


224     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

happened.  "The  next  time  some  of  you 
may  he  hurt." 

The  boys  promised  to  ohey,  and  they 
didn't  do  any  thing  just  like  that  again,  but 
they  did  other  things  almost  as  risky.  How- 
ever, no  one  was  hurt,  and  they  certainly 
had  lots  of  fun  at  Uncle  Toby's. 

There  was  so  much  to  do  that  they  almost 
forgot  about  the  lost  Skyrocket,  though 
every  now  and  then  Ted  and  his  chums 
would  go  off  in  the  woods,  whistling  aud 
calling.  But  the  dog  did  not  come  back. 

As  the  snow  did  not  melt  away,  Uncle 
Toby,  with  the  help  of  some  of  his  men 
friends  at  the  camp,  cleared  a  place  on  the 
frozen  lake  where  the  children  could  skate. 
And  with  this  fun,  with  coasting,  making 
snowmen,  another  snow  house,  having  snow- 
ball battles,  the  children  passed  many  days 
most  happily. 

Christmas  was  coming.  The  Curlytops 
and  their  playmates  now  began  counting  the 
days  until  this  grand  holiday  should  arrive. 
Trouble,  with  the  help  of  Janet,  had  written 
his  letter  to  Santa  Claus,  and  the  other 
children  had  told  each  other  (so  Aunt  Sallie 
and  Uncle  Toby  could  hear)  the  things  they 
wished  St.  Nicholas  to  bring  them. 


Trouble  is  Missing  225 


One  morning  Uncle  Toby  brought  the  big 
automobile  around  to  the  door  of  the  cabin. 
It  was  two  days  before  Christmas,  and 
everything  had  been  prepared  for  a  jolly 
good  time  at  the  cabin.  A  big  green  tree 
had  been  cut  in  the  woods,  and  set  up  in  one 
of  the  rooms.  There  it  was  to  be  trimmed 
and  made  ready  for  the  presents  to  be  put 
under  it. 

"Come,  children,  we're  going  to  the  vil- 
lage to  get  the  mail  and  some  other  things," 
called  Uncle  Toby  to  the  Curlytops  and  their 
friends.  "Pile  in,  and  we'll  all  go  to  the 
village.  I  wouldn't  be  surprised  but  what 
there  would  be  some  letters  for  all  of  you," 
he  said,  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eyes,  as  if  he 
knew  what  was  going  to  happen. 

"Oh,  maybe  daddy  and  mother  will  be  here 
for  Christmas!"  cried  Ted  and  Janet. 

"And  maybe  my  father  and  mother  will 
come,"  added  Lola,  though  she  did  not  have 
much  hope  of  this. 

"If  I  could  get  a  letter  that  my  mother 
was  all  well  again,  that  would  be  the  best 
Christmas  present  I  could  have,"  sighed 
Mary. 

"Maybe  you  will  get  such  a  letter,"  said 
Uncle  Toby. 


226     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

Perhaps  he  knew  what  was  going  to  hap- 
pen. 

Aunt  Sallie  said  she  would  not  make  the 
trip  to  the  village  in  the  automobile,  as  she 
had  work  to  do  at  the  bungalow.  So  Uncle 
Toby,  the  Curlytops  and  their  playmates — 
alas,  not  with  Skyrocket  this  time — started 
off.  The  snow  seemed  to  be  coming  down 
thicker  and  faster,  but  this  only  made  the 
children  more  joyful,  for  they  loved  snow 
at  Christmas,  as  what  youngster  does  not  1 

The  post-office  was  reached,  and  Uncle 
Toby  went  in  for  the  mail.  He  came  out 
with  both  hands  full.  There  was  a  letter 
for  Mary  and  Harry,  one  for  Ted  and  Janet 
and  one  for  Tom  and  Lola,  and  then  there 
were  separate  letters  for  each  boy  and  girl 
from  some  of  the  friends  they  had  left  be- 
hind. There  was  even  a  postal  for  Trouble. 

"Oh,  such  good  news!"  cried  Ted,  when 
he  and  Janet  had  read  their  letter.  *  *  Daddy 
and  Mother  are  coming  here  to  spend  Christ- 
mas with  us! " 

"Did  your  father  say  anything  about  the 
money  he  was  afraid  of  losing?"  asked 
Uncle  Toby. 

"No,"  answered  Ted.  "But  I  hope  he 
doesn't  lose  it." 


Trouble  is  Missing  227 

"We  have  good  news,  like  yours!"  Lola 
said  to  Janet.  "Our  daddy  and  mother  are 
coming  here  also  for  Christmas.  You  in- 
vited them,  didn't  you,  Uncle  Toby?"  she 
asked. 

"Why,  yes,  I  believe  I  did,"  chuckled  the 
jolly  old  gentleman.  "But  have  you  good 
news,  too?"  he  asked  Harry  and  Mary. 

"Yes,"  they  answered  with  happy  tears  in 
their  eyes.  "Our  mother  is  well  again,  and 
she  is  coming  up  here  for  Christmas.  Oh, 
how  happy  we  are!" 

"Everybody's  happy!"  sang  Trouble. 
"Everybody's  happy,  an'  Santa  C'aus  is 
comin'!" 

"That's  right!"  laughed  Janet,  hugging 
him. 

They  little  knew  how  close  unhappiness 
was  following  happiness. 

After  the  letters  had  been  read  again 
Uncle  Toby  drove  the  automobile  down  the 
village  street  to  the  store  to  get  some  things 
Aunt  Sallie  wanted  for  the  Christmas  din- 
ner. As  the  children  each  had  some  spend- 
ing money  they  were  allowed  to  get  out  and 
wander  through  a  general  store  next  to  the 
grocery.  There  was  a  "five  and  ten  cent" 
department  in  the  variety  "Emporium"  as 


228     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

it  was  called,  and  the  children  had  fun  there, 
picking  out  inexpensive  presents  as  sur- 
prises one  for  the  other. 

It  was  not  until,  bubbling  over  with  joy 
and  happiness,  they  had  again  gotten  back 
in  the  automobile  that  Trouble  was  missed. 

"Oh,  where  is  your  little  brother?"  ex- 
claimed Lola. 

"Why,  I  thought  you  had  him!"  said 
Janet. 

"And  I  thought  you  did.  We  must  have 
left  him  back  in  the  store.  Let's  look!" 

But  Trouble  was  not  there!  He  was 
missing ! 


CHAPTER  XXI    . 

TROUBLE  AND  SKYROCKET 

You  can  imagine  there  was  much  excite- 
ment and  some  very  frightened  feelings  in 
the  hearts  of  all  the  children  when  the  clerks 
in  the  store  where  the  five  and  ten  cent 
Christmas  presents  had  been  bought  said 
Trouble  was  not  there. 

"But  where  can  he  be?"  asked  Janet, 
hardly  able  to  keep  back  the  tears. 

"Perhaps  he  went  out  and  walked  back 
to  the  store  where  Uncle  Toby  is  buying 
his  things,"  suggested  Lola.  "Let's  look 
there. ' ' 

"I  guess  that's  where  he  is  all  right,"  said 
Teddy. 

But  Trouble  was  not  in  the  grocery  store, 
and  Uncle  Toby,  who  had  finished  his  shop- 
ping, was  as  much  surprised  and  alarmed 
as  were  the  children  when  told  what  had 
happened. 

"I  ffuess  the  little  tyke  may  have  walked 

229 


230     The  Curlytops  and  Tlieir  Playmates 

out  by  himself  and  gotten  into  the  auto," 
said  Uncle  Toby. 

But  Trouble  was  not  in  the  big  closed 
automobile.  And  then  a  frantic  search 
began.  People  in  the  stores  where  Uncle 
Toby  and  the  children  had  been  lent  their 
aid,  and  when  after  fifteen  minutes  it  was 
sure  that  the  little  boy  was  not  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, the  constable  was  called  on  and  the 
search  made  up  and  down  the  street. 

"Well,  well  find  him,  of  course, "  said 
Uncle  Toby,  speaking  more  hopefully  than 
he  really  felt.  "What  happened,  I  sup- 
pose, is  that  he  wandered  out  of  the  store, 
to  find  me,  maybe,  and  he  got  in  the  wrong 
place.  We'll  look  in  every  building  along 
Main  Street." 

This  was  done,  and  the  houses  on  side 
streets  were  visited,  too,  but  without  effect. 
Trouble  seemed  to  have  vanished  completely 
and  mysteriously. 

By  this  time  Janet  was  crying,  as  were 
the  other  girls,  and  the  boys  tried  not  to  let 
the  tears  in  their  eyes  be  seen. 

"Where  can  he  be?"  asked  the  Curlytops 
over  and  over  again,  when  each  store  had 
been  searched  twice. 

"Ill  tell  you  what  I  think  happened," 


Trouble  and  Skyrocket  231 

said  Uncle  Toby.  * '  Trouble  wandered  away 
from  you,  while  you  were  buying  your 
Christmas  presents.  He  wandered  out  into 
the  street  and  got  confused.  Maybe  he 
started  crying  in  the  street,  and  some  farmer 
and  his  wife,  in  their  sled,  may  have  taken 
him  in  to  comfort  him." 

"But  what  would  they  do  with  him?" 
asked  Ted. 

"Some  farmer  and  his  wife  picked 
Trouble  up  off  the  street  and  took  him  home 
with  them,"  repeated  Mr.  Bardeen,  as  if 
he  knew  this  was  so.  And  he  really  believed 
it. 

"Why  would  they  do  that?"  asked  Jan, 
with  trembling  lips. 

"They  may  have  thought  Trouble  was  the 
child  of  some  neighbor  whom  they  knew, 
and  they  planned  to  take  him  home.  De- 
pend on  it — that's  what  happened!" 

"But  how  will  we  get  Trouble  back?" 
asked  Ted. 

"Why,  the  farmer,  whoever  he  is,  will 
find  out  his  mistake,  and  he'll  bring  the  little 
fellow  back  to  town  again,"  was  the  answer. 
"That's  what  will  happen.  But  111  get  as 
many  men  as  I  can,  and  with  the  constable 
we'll  inquire  of  all  the  farmers  around  here. 


232     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

In  that  way  we'll  get  Trouble  back  quicker. 'r 

There  were  willing  searchers,  and  soon 
the  country  around  Crystal  Lake  was  being 
searched  by  men  and  women  in  automobiles 
and  sleds  who  inquired  at  each  farmhouse 
for  a  little  boy  taken  away  by  mistake. 

But  as  night  came  and  no  Trouble  had 
been  found,  the  Curlytops  and  their  play- 
mates began  to  feel  very  sad  indeed. 

Uncle  Toby  decided  to  take  the  children 
home  and  leave  them  with  Aunt  Sallie  in 
the  cabin,  while  he  kept  on  with  the  search. 

"Trouble  missing  and  Skyrocket  gone!" 
thought  Uncle  Toby  to  himself,  as  he  drove 
back  in  the  automobile.  "  This  will  be  a  sad 
Christmas,  when  I  meant  it  to  be  such  a 
happy  one." 

But  it  would  not  be  Christmas  for  two 
days,  and  much  might  happen  in  that  time. 

It  was  nearly  dusk  when  the  big  auto- 
mobile drew  near  the  old  deserted  cabin  of 
Newt  Baker,  from  which  the  strange  man 
had  once  been  seen  running  away.  Look- 
ing from  the  window  on  his  side,  Ted  peered 
at  the  old  shack,  and  as  he  did  so  he  uttered 
a  cry  of  surprise  and  wonder. 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Uncle  Toby,  quickly 


233 


bringing  the  machine  to  a  stop,  for  he 
thought  some  one  had  opened  a  door  and 
fallen  out. 

"It's  Trouble!  I  saw  him  at  the  window 
just  now!  In  there !"  and  Ted  pointed  to 
the  old  cabin. 

"Trouble  in  there?  It  can't  be!"  said 
Uncle  Toby. 

But  just  then  Janet  set  up  a  cry. 

1 '  Yes,  he  is,  Uncle  Toby !    I  saw  him ! ' ' 

Mr.  Bardeen  lost  little  time  in  jumping 
from  the  automobile.  Followed  by  the 
children,  he  ran  to  the  door  of  the  cabin,  and 
as  he  opened  it  he  heard  the  barking  of  a  dog 
mingled  with  the  crying  voice  of  Trouble. 
An  instant  later  Skyrocket  rushed  out  to 
greet  his  friends,  and  then  Trouble  came 
from  an  inner  room,  toddling  into  the  arms 
of  Janet. 

"Oh,  William!  how  did  you  ever  get 
here?"  cried  Lola. 

"And  Skyrocket,  too!  Look!  Here's 
our  dog!"  shouted  Ted. 

With  the  high  voices  of  the  children,  the 
barking  of  Skyrocket,  and  the  crying  of 
Trouble,  there  was  so  much  noise  that  no 
one  heard  footsteps  coming  from  the  room 


234     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

out  of  which  the  missing  boy  had  rushed 
until  suddenly  a  strange  man  stood  on  the 
threshold. 

"Look!"  cried  Tom,  glancing  up  at  this 
man.  " There 's  the  tramp!" 

And  they  all  saw  the  same  stranger  who 
had  rushed  away  from  the  cottage  the  time 
Uncle  Toby  went  to  the  well  to  get  water 
for  the  automobile  radiator. 

"What  are  you  doing  here?"  asked  Uncle 
Toby  in  a  stern  voice.  "And  did  you  try  to 
kidnap  him?"  Mr.  Bardeen  pointed  to 
little  William,  who  was  sobbing  in  Janet's 
arms.  And  as  he  saw  this  and  thought  what 
a  lot  of  trouble  seemed  to  have  been  caused 
by  this  man,  Uncle  Toby  started  toward  him 
as  if  in  anger. 

"Don't  hit  me!"  pleaded  the  man.  "I'm 
in  trouble!  I've  had  a  lot  of  trouble.  I 
was  in  the  war — and — but  that  was  long 
ago — and — " 

His  voice  was  very  faint,  and  as  Uncle 
Toby  walked  toward  him  the  man  tried  to 
run  back  into  the  room.  But  his  foot 
slipped  and  he  fell,  striking  his  head  heav- 
ily on  the  floor.  Then  he  rolled  over  and 
lay  very  quiet. 

"He's  fainted,  I  guess,"  said  Tom. 


Trouble  and  Skyrocket  235 

"Looks  so,"  agreed  Uncle  Toby.  "Well, 
we've  found  Trouble,  anyhow.  That's  the 
big  thing.  I  don't  know  how  this  man  got 
him  or  what  he  intended  to  do  with  him. 
But  I'm  going  to  tell  the  police.  I  guess 
he'd  better  have  a  doctor,  too,"  he  added. 
"He's  cut  his  head  in  his  fall.  Ted,  you 
and  Tom  go  to  the  next  house,"  he  went  on. 
"There's  a  telephone  there.  Tell  Mr.  Hick 
to  call  up  the  police,  let  them  know  we  have 
found  the  missing  boy  and  have  them  send 
out  a  doctor.  It's  a  long  walk  to  Mr.  Hick's 
place,  but  I  guess  you  won't  be  afraid. 
Then  come  back  here.  I  don't  want  to  leave 
this  man  alone,  as  I'd  have  to  do  if  we  all 
went  away  in  the  auto." 

"We'll  go  to  the  telephone,"  said  Tom 
and  Ted,  and  Harry  went  with  them. 

As  soon  as  the  boys  started  tramping 
through  the  gathering  dusk  to  Mr.  Hick's 
house,  Janet  quieted  Trouble  and  got 
Skyrocket  to  stop  barking.  This  last  was 
hard  because  the  dog  was  so  overjoyed  at 
being  with  his  friends  again.  There  was  a 
broken  rope  around  his  neck,  showing  that 
he  had  been  kept  tied  up  since  he  had  been 
taken  away.  But  he  seemed  to  have  been 
well  treated  and  fed. 


'236    The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

44  Can  Trouble  tell  us  what  happened  and 
how  this  man  got  him?"  asked  Uncle  Toby 
of  Janet,  who  was  holding  her  little  brother. 
The  " tramp/'  as  he  was  called,  still  lay 
where  he  had  fallen  in  a  faint. 

Janet  understood  Trouble's  baby  talk 
better  than  any  one  else,  and  she  soon  had 
his  story  out  of  him.  He  had  wandered  out 
of  the  store,  it  seemed,  and  on  the  sidewalk 
in  front  had  been  spoken  to  by  the  man  who 
had  brought  him  to  the  lonely  cabin.  The 
tramp  and  Trouble  rode  out  to  the  cabin 
in  a  farmer's  sled,  so  the  little  boy  said. 

"I  can  understand  how  that  might  hap- 
pen, "  said  Uncle  Toby.  "Some  farmer 
would  be  glad  to  give  the  man  and  Trouble 
a  ride  out  into  the  country.  And  it  might 
have  been  some  farmer  from  a  distance,  who 
didn't  know  that  no  one  lived  here.  Such 
a  farmer  wouldn't  be  surprised  at  Trouble 
and  the  man  getting  out  here  at  the  lonely 
cabin.  Well,  things  are  coming  out  all 
right,  and  maybe  this  tramp  didn't  intend 
to  do  anything  mean.  We'll  have  to  wait 
until  he  gets  better  so  he  can  tell  us  what 
happened." 

The  stranger  was  still  lying  very  quiet  on 
the  floor  of  the  lonely  cabin.  It  was  a  long 


Trouble  and  Skyrocket  237 

time  before  the  three  boys  came  back,  but 
soon  after  them  the  constable  and  the  doctor 
arrived.  The  doctor  said  the  man  was  not 
badly  hurt,  but  should  have  good  care.  And 
as  it  was  thought  he  might  have  tried  to  kid- 
nap Trouble  he  was  put  under  arrest. 

Of  course  the  man  himself  did  not  know 
this,  for  he  was  still  in  a  faint.  The  doctor 
said  the  blow  on  his  head  caused  this.  But 
he  was  taken  away  by  the  constable  and  the 
doctor  to  the  doctor's  own  home,  where  he 
could  be  well  cared  for  until  he  was  well 
enough  to  be  put  in  jail,  for  he  was  under 
arrest  for  having  carried  off  Trouble. 

Then  the  Curlytops  and  their  playmates 
went,  on  to  Uncle  Toby's  cabin,  a  happy 
jolly  crowd,  now  that  all  worry  was  removed. 
They  had  William  with  them,  and  also 
Skyrocket. 

"But  I  wonder  how  that  tramp  got  my 
dog?"  mused  Ted. 

"He  might  have  found  him  wandering  in 
the  woods/'  said  Uncle  Toby.  But  he  did 
not  really  believe  this.  There  was  some- 
thing queer  about  that  tramp. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

A  HAPPY  REUNION 

SUCH  joyous  times  as  there  were  next  day ! 
It  was  the  day  before  Christmas,  and,  as 
every  one  knows,  it  is  the  j  oiliest  time  in  the 
year,  with  one  exception.  That  exception  is 
Christmas  itself. 

"When  are  we  going  to  the  station  to  meet 
the  folks?"  asked  the  Curlytops  and  their 
playmates,  over  and  over  again.  For  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Martin,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor,  and 
the  mother  of  Harry  and  Mary,  now  out  of 
the  hospital,  were  to  come  on  the  same  train, 
to  spend  the  Christmas  holidays  at  Uncle 
Toby's. 

"Oh,  we'll  go  soon  now,"  said  Mr. 
Bardeen,  and  the  children  could  hardly 
wait.  Uncle  Toby  had  arranged  for  an 
extra  automobile  to  bring  the  grown  folks 
from  the  station  to  his  cabin,  as  the  Bardeen 
-car  would  be  well  filled. 

After  what  seemed  many  hours,  though  it 

238 


A  Happy  Reunion  289 

• 

was  really  not  more  than  a  wait  of  thirty 
minutes  at  the  station,  the  toot  of  a  whistle 
was  heard  around  a  curve  in  the  track. 

"Here  comes  the  train!"  cried  Ted. 

"Oh,  what  a  lovely  Christmas  this  is 
going  to  be!"  sighed  Janet. 

Out  of  the  car  came  the  mother  and  father 
of  the  Curlytops,  then  the  mother  and  father 
of  Tom  and  Lola,  and  then,  more  slowly, 
Mrs.  Benton. 

"Oh,  we're  so  glad  to  see  you!"  cried  the 
Curlytops  and  their  playmates,  each  to  the 
proper  parents.  There  was  hugging  and 
kissing,  and  in  excited  tones  the  story  of  the 
missing  boy  and  dog  was  quickly  told. 

"It  is  very  good  of  you,  Mr.  Bardeen,  to 
ask  me  out  here,"  said  Mrs.  Benton.  "I 
feel  sure  I  shall  grow  well  and  strong  now, 
and  I  can  look  after  my  two  children." 

"That's  all  right,  Susan!"  was  the  hearty 
answer.  "  I  'm  glad  to  have  you  and  the  chil- 
dren. We're  going  to  have  a  jolly  Christ- 
mas." 

And  indeed  it  seemed  so,  for  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Martin  found  a  chance  to  tell  Ted  and 
Janet  that  it  was  all  right  about  the  money— 
that  Mr.  Martin  was  not  going  to  lose  it  after 
all.  His  trip  had  saved  it  for  him. 


240     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

As  the  automobiles  were  about  to  start  off, 
the  constable  came  up  to  Uncle  Toby  and 
said: 

"That  strange  man— the  one  who  fell  and 
hurt  himself  at  the  cabin  when  you  found  the 
kidnapped  boy — wants  to  see  you,  Mr. 
Bardeen." 

"Wants  to  see  me?"  asked  Uncle  Toby,  in 
surprise. 

"Yes.  It  seems  he  is  much  better  now, 
and  is  in  his  right  mind." 

"Was  he  out  of  his  mind  before?"  asked 
Uncle  Toby,  while  the  others  listened 
eagerly. 

"Yes,  he  was  most  of  the  time,  though  not 
always.  He's  a  soldier,  it  seems,  or  was. 
He  fought  in  the  big  war  and  was  hurt  or 
gassed,  or  something,  and  lost  his  mind.  He 
really  doesn't  know  what  happened  to  him, 
except  that  he  ran  away  from  different 
hospitals,  got  to  this  country  somehow,  and 
has  been  wandering  around  ever  since,  living 
as  best  he  could.  But  he's  all  right  now. 
The  doctor  said  that  fall  he  had  did  some- 
thing to  his  head  and  gave  him  back  his 
right  senses,  so  he's  all  right  now,  and  he's 
asking  for  you." 


A  Happy  Reunion  241 

" What's  his  name,  and  why  does  he  want 
to  see  me?"  asked  Uncle  Toby. 

"He  says  he  wants  to  explain  that  he 
didn't  try  to  kidnap  the  little  boy,"  the 
constable  went  on.  "  And  he  didn  't  steal  the 
dog,  either.  The  dog  came  to  the  cabin, 
made  friends  with  him,  and  the  man  kept 
him.  Though  maybe  the  dog  would  have 
gone  to  you  if  he  hadn't  been  tied  up.  But 
the  man's  very  anxious  to  see  you  and 
explain  all  this.  I  said  I'd  go  get  you.  I 
went  out  to  your  cabin,  and  a  lady  there  said 
you'd  come  here  to  the  station,  so  I  hurried 
back,  and  here  I  am.  Could  you  come  and 
see  that  man  for  a  few  minutes'?" 

"Why,  I  suppose  I  could,  yes,"  answered 
Uncle  Toby.  "But  who  is  he,  anyhow'? 
You  say  he  was  a  soldier  in  the  big  war?" 

"Yes.  And  he  says  his  name  is  Frank 
Benton.  He- 

But  there  was  an  excited  cry  from  the 
mother  of  Mary  and  Harry. 

"Frank  Benton !"  she  exclaimed.  "Why, 
that  was  my  husband's  name !  My  husband 
fought  in  the  war!  We  thought  he  was 
killed,  but  we  never  could  be  sure  of  it,  as 
no  record  was  found.  Oh,  if  this  should  be 


242     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

your  missing  father,  children !"  and  with 
tears  in  her  eyes  she  looked  at  her  boy  and 
girl. 

"We'll  soon  find  out!"  cried  Uncle  Toby. 

"To  the  doctor's!  First  house  around 
that  corner,"  directed  the  constable. 

Trembling  with  eagerness  and  hope,  Mrs. 
Benton,  with  Harry  and  Mary,  went  into  the 
room  where  the  injured  man  lay  in  a  white 
bed.  He  was  much  better  now,  and  the  con- 
stable did  not  go  along,  since  he  was  not  to  be 
arrested,  as  what  he  had  done  had  been  when 
he  was  out  of  his  head  through  a  war  injury. 

"Frank!"  cried  Mrs.  Benton,  as  soon  as 
she  caught  sight  of  the  man. 

"Susan!"  he  murmured,  holding  out  his 
arms.  And  then  such  a  happy  reunion  as 
there  was.  "My,  how  big  the  children  have 
become!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Benton,  through 
his  glad  tears.  l '  To  think  I  saw  them  in  the 
room  with  the  Curlytops  and  didn't  know 
them." 

"And  they  didn't  know  you,"  said  his 
wife.  "But  now  we  have  each  other!  Oh, 
how  happy  I  am.  This  will  be  the  best 
Christmas  in  all  the  world!" 

And  it  was — for  every  one  at  Uncle  To- 
by's cabin. 


A  Happy  Reunion  243 

There  is  not  much  more  to  tell.  The 
mystery  was  all  cleared  up.  Mr.  Benton 
had  been  wounded  in  the  war,  an  injury  to 
his  brain  making  him  out  of  his  head, 
though  not  dangerously  so.  He  wandered 
away,  escaping  from  one  hospital  after 
another  under  the  mistaken  notion  that  the 
doctors  and  nurses  were  trying  to  harm  him. 

In  his  wanderings  he  finally  reached  the 
neighborhood  of  Crystal  Lake.  He  found 
the  old  deserted  cabin  and  made  his  home 
there,  living  on  what  he  could  pick  up  or 
take  from  the  farmhouses.  Thus  the  ru- 
mor of  tramps  and  burglars  was  talked  of 
at  the  lake.  Poor  Mr.  Benton  was  so  timid 
that  he  ran  away  when  Uncle  Toby  came  to 
draw  water. 

It  was  Mr.  Benton  who  took  Aunt  Sallie's 
plum  pudding  from  the  pantry,  though  he 
did  not  know  he  was  stealing.  And  it  was 
he  who  looked  in  the  window,  thus  frighten- 
ing Janet.  And,  as  he  said,  he  had  found 
Skyrocket  wandering  in  the  woods.  There 
was  a  loose  board  on  one  side  of  the  cabin, 
a  board  Uncle  Toby  had  forgotten  about, 
and  Skyrocket  got  out  through  that  hole  the 
night  he  disappeared.  After  getting  him 
to  the  lonely  cabin  Mr.  Benton  became  so 


244     The  Curlytops  and  Their  Playmates 

fond  of  the  dog  that  he  tied  him  up. 
Though  Skyrocket  might  have  remained  of 
his  own  accord,  for  he  had  made  friends 
with  the  wounded  soldier. 

It  was  while  strolling  about  the  streets  of 
the  village  that  the  father  of  Mary  and 
Harry  saw  Trouble  wandering  out  of  the 
five  and  ten  cent  store.  Always  fond  of 
children,  Mr.  Benton  made  friends  with 
William,  and  Trouble  took  a  liking  to  the 
strange  man. 

Then,  somehow  or  other,  the  idea  of  tak- 
ing Trouble  to  the  lonely  cabin  came  into 
the  head  of  the  man,  and  he  got  a  ride  out 
in  the  sled  of  a  strange  farmer.  But  once 
in  the  deserted  shack  Trouble  became 
frightened  and  began  to  cry.  Mr.  Benton 
did  not  know  what  to  do,  his  head  was  troub- 
ling him,  and  he  realized  dimly  that  he 
might  get  into  difficulties  with  the  police. 
He  left  Trouble  in  a  room,  trying  to  think 
what  was  best  to  do  to  get  the  little  boy  back 
to  his  friends,  and  then  Uncle  Toby  came 
along. 

After  that  things  happened  quickly.  Mr. 
Mr.  Benton  slipped  and  fell,  and  the  blow 
on  his  head  did  what  the  doctors  and  nurses 


A  Happy  Reunion  245 

could  not  seem  to  do  for  him.  It  brought 
Mm  back  to  his  right  mind. 

"And  we'll  soon  have  you  out  at  my 
cabin,  spending  Christmas  with  the  Curly- 
tops  !"  said  Uncle  Toby,  when  everything 
had  been  explained. 

"Oh,  what  a  happy  time  it  will  be!"  said 
Mr.  Benton. 

That  night  he  was  taken  out  to  the  cabin, 
and  there  was  reunited  with  his  little  fam- 
ily. And  such  a  gladsome,  happy,  and 
thankful  Christmas  eve  was  never  known 
before ! 

It  seemed  that  the  children  never  would 
go  to  bed,  but  at  last  they  quieted  down  and 
then — well,  what  always  happens  on  Christ- 
mas eve  took  place  after  that. 

The  Christmas  tree  was  wonderously 
trimmed,  empty  stockings  began  to  swell 
out  and  there  was  even  one  for  Skyrocket 
which  was  laden  to  overflowing  with  dog 
biscuit. 

The  sun  shone  bright  on  the  snow  around 
Crystal  Lake. 

"Merry  Christmas!"  cried  the  Curlytops, 
as  they  rushed  to  see  what  Santa  Claus  had 
left  for  them. 


246     The  Curly  tops  and  Their  Playmates 

"Merry  Christmas!"  echoed  their  play- 
mates. 

"The  happiest  Christmas  in  all  the 
world!"  said  Harry  and  Mary.  For  they 
had  found  their  father,  long  lost  to  them. 

"I  'ikes  Ch'is'mus,"  murmured  Trouble, 
his  mouth  full  of  candy.  "I  'ikes  Ch'is'- 
inus  an'  Unk  Toby  an'  everybody!  I  'ike 
'oo!"  he  said  to  Mr.  Benton. 

"And  I  like  you,"  said  the  father  of  Mary 
and  Harry.  "Only  for  you  and  Uncle 
Toby  I  might  not  be  here,  happy  with  my 
family.  Merry  Christmas  to  everybody!" 

And  so,  with  the  gladsome  echoes  of 
"Merry  Christmas"  filling  the  air,  we  will 
say  good-bye  to  the  Curlytops. 

THE  END 


THE  CURLYTOPS  SERIES 


BY  HOWARD  R.  GARIS 

Author  of  the  famous  ' '  Bedtime  Animal  Storiea" 

12mo.    Cloth.    Illustrated.    Jacket  in  full  colors 

Price  per  volume,  65  cents,  postpaid 

Stories  for  children  by  the  best  author  of 
books  for  little  people. 

1.  THE  CURLYTOPS  AT  CHERRY  FARM 

or  Vacation  Days  in  the  Country 
A  tale  of  happy  vacation  days  on  a  farm- 

2.  THE  CURLYTOPS  ON  STAR  ISLAND 

or  Camping  out  with  Grandpa 
The  Curlytops  were  delighted  when  grand- 
pa took  them  to  camp  on  Star  Island. 

3.  THE  CURLYTOPS  SNOWED  IN 

or  Grand  Fun  with  Skates  and  Sleds 

Winter  was  a  jolly  time  for  the  Curlytops,  with  their  skates  and 
sleds,  on  the  lakes  and  hills. 

4.  THE  CURLYTOPS  AT  UNCLE  FRANK'S  RANCH 

or  Little  Folks  on  Pony  Back 

Out  West  on  their  uncle's  ranch  they  have  a  wonderful  time 
among  the  cowboys  and  on  pony  back. 

5.  THE  CURLYTOPS  AT  SILVER  LAKE 

or  On  the  Water  with  Uncle  Ben 
The  Curlytops  camp  out  on  the  shores  of  a  beautiful  lake. 

6.  THE  CURLYTOPS  AND  THEIR  PETS 

or  Uncle  Toby's  Strange  Collection 

When  an  old  uncle  leaves  them  to  care  for  his  collection  of  pets, 
they  get  up  a  circus  for  charity. 

7.  THE    CURLYTOPS  AND  THEIR  PLAYMATES 

or  Jolly  Times  Through  the  Holidays 

The  children  have  great  times  with  their  uncle's  collection  of 
animals. 

8.  THE  CURLYTOPS  IN  THE  WOODS 

or  Fun  at  the  Lumber  Camp 
Exciting  times  in  the  forest  for  Curlytops. 

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NewYotfc 


THE  RUBY  AND  RUTHY  SERIES 


BY    MINNIE   E.    PAULL 


Ifmo.    Cloth.    Illustrated.    Price  per  volume,  65  cents,  postpaid. 


Four  bright  and  entertaining  stories  told 
in  Mrs.  Paull's  happiest  manner  are  among 
the  best  stories  ever  written  for  young  girls, 
and  cannot  fail  to  interest  any  between  the 
ages  of  eight  and  fifteen  years. 

RUBY  AND  RUTHY 

Ruby  and  Ruthie  were  not  old  enough  to 
go  to  school,  but  they  certainly  were  Lively 
enough  to  have  many  exciting  adventures, 
that  taught  many  useful  lessons  needed  to 
be  learned  by  little  girls. 


RUBY'S  UPS  AND  DOWNS 

-  ./There  were  troubles  enough  for  a  dozen  grown-ups,  but  Ruby 
got  ahead  of  them  all,  and,  in  spite  of  them,  became  a  favorite 
in  the  lively  times  at  school. 


RUBY  AT  SCHOOL 

Ruby  had  many  surprises  when  she  went  to  the  impossible  place 
she  heard  called  a  boarding  school,  but  every  experience  helped 
to  make  her  a  stronger-minded  girl. 


RUBY'S   VACATION 

This  Yolume  shows  how  a  little  girl  improves  by  having  varie- 
ties of  experience  both  happy  and  unhappy,  provided  she  thinks, 
and  is  able  to  use  her  good  sense.  Ruby  lives  and  learns. 


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THE  LINGER-NOT  SERIES 

BY  AGNES  MILLER 

12mo.     Cloth.    Illustrated.    Jacket  in  full  colors 
Price  per  volume,  65  cents,  postpaid 


This  new  series  of  girls'  books  is  in  a  new 
style  of  story  writing .  The  interest  is  in  knowing 
the  girls  and  seeing  them  solve  the  problems 
that  develop  their  character.  Incidentally,  a 
great  deal  of  historical  information  is  imparted, 
and  a  fine  atmosphere  of  responsibility  is  made 
pleasing  and  useful  to  the  reader. 


1.  THE  LINGER-NOT!  AND  THE  MYSTERY  HOUSE 

or  The  Story  of  Nine  Adventurous  Girls 

How  the  Linger- Not  girls  met  and  formed  their  club  seems  com- 
monplace, but  this  writer  makes  it  fascinating,  and  how  they  made 
their  club  serve  a  great  purpose  continues  the  interest  to  the  end ,  and 
introduces  a  new  type  of  girlhood. 

2.  THE  LINGER-NOTS  AND  THE  VALLEY  FEUD 

or  The  Great  West  Point  Chain 

The  Linger-Not  girls  had  no  thought  of  becoming  mixed  up  with 
feuds  or  mysteries,  but  their  habit  of  being  useful  soon  entangled 
them  in  some  surprising  adventures  that  turned  out  happily  for  all, 
and  made  the  valley  better  because  of  their  visit. 

3.  THE  LINGER-NOTS  AND  THEIR  GOLDEN  QUEST 

or  The  Log  of  the  Ocean  Monarch 

For  a  club  of  girls  to  become  involved  in  a  mystery  leading  back 
into  the  times  of  the  California  gold-rush,  seems  unnatural  until  the 
reader  sees  how  it  happened,  and  how  the  girls  helped  one  of  their 
friends  to  come  into  her  rightful  name  and  inheritance,  forma  a  fine 
story. 

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New  York 


THE  RADIO  GIRLS  SERIES 

BY  MARGARET  PEN  ROSE 

12mo.    Cloth.    Illustrated.    Jacket  in  full  colors 
Price  per  volume,  65  cents,  postpaid 


A  new  and  up-to-date  series,  taking  in  the 
activities  of  several  bright  girls  who  become 
interested  in  radio.  The  stories  tell  of  thrilling 
exploits,  out-door  life  and  the  great  part  the 
Radio  plays  in  the  adventures  of  the  girls  and 
in  solving  their  mysteries.  Fascinating  books 
that  girls  of  all  ages  will  want  to  read. 


1.  THE  RADIO  GIRLS  OF  ROSELAWN 

or  A  Strange  Message  from  the  Air 

Showing  how  Jessie  Norwood  and  her  chums  became  interested 
in  radiophoning,  how  they  gave  a  concert  for  a  worthy  local  charity, 
and  how  they  received  a  sudden  and  unexpected  call  for  help  out 
of  the  air.  ^  A  girl  who  was  wanted  as  a  witness  in  a  celebrated  law 
case  had  disappeared,  and  how  the  radio  girls  went  to  the  rescue  is 
told  in  an  absorbing  manner. 

2.  THE  RADIO  GIRLS  ON  THE  PROGRAM 

or  Singing  and  Reciting  at  the  Sending  Station 
When  listening  in  on  a  thrilling  recitation  or  a  superb  concert 
number  who  of  us  has  not  longed  to  "look  behind  the  scenes"  to  see 
how  it  was  done?  The  girls  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  sending 
station  manager  and  in  this  volume  are  permitted  to  get  on  the  pro- 
gram, much  to  their  delight.  A  tale  full  of  action  and  not  a  little 
fun. 

3.  THE  RADIO  GIRLS  ON  STATION  ISLAND 

or  The  Wireless  from  the  Steam  Yacht 

In  this  volume  the  girls  travel  to  the  seashore  and  put  in  a  vacation 
on  an  island  where  is  located  a  big  radio  sending  station.  The  big 
brother  of  one  of  the  girls  owns  a  steam  yacht  and  while  out  with  a 
pleasure  party  those  on  the  island  receive  word  by  radio  that  the 
yacht  is  on  fire.  A  tale  thrilling  to  the  last  page. 

Send  For  Our  Free  Illustrated  Catalogue 


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New  York 


THE  BETTY  GORDON  SERIES 

BY  ALICE  B.  EMERSON^ 

Author  of  the  Famous  "Ruth  Fielding"  Seriet 

I2mo.    Cloth.    Illustrated.    Jacket  in  full  colors 

Price  per  volume,  65  cents,  postpaid 

A  series  of  stories  by  Alice  B.  Emerson  which 
are  bound  to  make  this  writer  more  popular 
than  ever  -with  her  host  of  girl  readers. 


1.    BETTY 


BRAMBLE 


GORDON    AT 
FARM 

or  The  Mystery  of  a  Nobody 
At  the  age  of  twelve  Betty  is  left  an  orphan. 
Her  uncle  sends  her  to  live  on  a  farm. 


2.  BETTY  GORDON  IN  WASHINGTON 

or  Strange  Adventures  in  a  Great  City 

In  this  volume  Betty  goes  to  the  National  Capitol  to  find  her 
uncle  and  has  several  unusual  adventures. 

3.  BETTY  GORDON  IN  THE  LAND  OF  OIL 

or  The  Farm  That  Was  Worth  a  Fortune 

From  Washington  the  scene  is  shifted  to  the  great  oil  fields  of 
our  country.    A  splendid  picture  of  the  oil  field  operations  of  today. 

4.  BETTY  GORDON  AT  BOARDING  SCHOOL 

or  The  Treasure  of  Indian  Chasm 

Seeking  the  treasure  of  Indian  Chasm  makes  an  exceedingly  inter- 
esting incident. 

5.  BETTY  GORDON  AT  MOUNTAIN  CAMP 

or  The  Mystery  of  Ida  Bellethorne 

At  Mountain  Camp  Betty  found  herself  in  the  midst  of  a  mystoy 
involving  a  girl  whom  she  had  previously  met  in  Washington. 

6.  BETTY  GORDON  AT  OCEAN  PARK 

or  Gay  Days  on  the  Boardwalk 
Adventure  in  high  society  let  loose  on  the  seashore. 

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RL/THJEODING 
RED  MILL 


THE  RUTH  FIELDING  SERIES 

BY  ALICE  B.  EMERSON 
12mo.     Illustrated.  Price  per  volume,  65  cents,  postpaid 

Ruth  Fielding  vAU  live  in  juvenile  Fiction. 

RUTH  FIELDING  OF  THE  RED  MILL 

or  Jasper  Parloe's  Secret 

RUTHFIELDINGATBRIARWOODHALL 

or  Solving  the  Campus  Mystery 
RUTH  FIELDING  AT  SNOW  CAMP 

or  Lost  in  the  Backwoods 
RUTH    FIELDING    AT    LIGHTHOUSE 
POINT    or  Nita,  the  Girl  Castaway 

RUTH  FIELDING  AT  SILVER  RANCH 

or  Schoolgirls  Among  the  Cowboys 
RUTH  FIELDING  ON  CLIFF  ISLAND 

or  The  Old  Hunter's  Treasure  Box 
RUTH  FIELDING  AT  SUNRISE  FARM 

or  What  Became  of  the  Raby  Orphans 
RUTH  FIELDING  AND  THE  GYPSIES 

or  The  Missing  Pearl  Necklace 
RUTH  FIELDING  IN  MOVING  PICTURES 

or  Helping  the  Dormitory  Fund 
RUTH  FIELDING  DOWN  IN  DIXIE 

or  Great  Days  in  the  Land  of  Cotton 
RUTH  FIELDING  AT  COLLEGE 

or  The  Missing  Examination  Papers 
RUTH  FIELDING  IN  THE  SADDLE 

or  College  Girls  in  the  Land  of  Gold 
RUTH  FIELDING  IN  THE  RED  CROSS 

or  Doing  Her  Bit  for  Uncle  Sam 
RUTH  FIELDING  AT  THE  WAR  FRONT 

or  The  Hunt  for  a  Lost  Soldier 
RUTH  FIELDING  HOMEWARD  BOUND 

or  A  Red  Cross  Worker's  Ocean  Perils 
RUTH  FIELDING  DOWN  EAST 

or  The  Hermit  of  Beach  Plum  Point 
RUTH  FIELDING  IN  THE  GREAT  NORTHWEST 

or  The  Indian  Girl  Star  of  the  Movies 
RUTH  FIELDING  ON  THE  ST.  LAWRENCE 

or  The  Queer  Old  Man  of  the  Thousand  Islands 
RUTH  FIELDING  TREASURE  HUNTING 

or  A  Moving  Picture  that  Became  Real 


CUPPLES  &  LEON  COMPANY.  Publishers 


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